^ 


REMARKS 

ON 

THE     MANAGEMENT, 

OR   RATHER,   THE 

M/S-MANAGEMENT, 

OF 

WOODS,  PLANTATIONS, 

AND 

HEDGE-ROW  TIMBER. 


BY     J.     WEST, 

'Eanfc  gtgcnt,  &c.  fcc* 

NORTH     COLLINGHAM,     NEWARK,     NOTTS. 


NEWARK:.'., 

PRINTED  AND  SOLD  BY  J.  PERFECT,  CARTERGATE. 

LONGMAN  &  Co.   LONDON. 
1842. 


TO 


JOHN  EVELYN  DENISON,  ESQ. 
M.  P. 


SIR, 

Having  had  the  honor  to  spend  nineteen 
years  in  your  service  as  resident  Land  Agent — 
having  during  that  period,  as  well  as  since,  re- 
ceived from  you  many  marks  of  favour — having 
on  your  Estate  laid  the  foundation,  and  to  some 
extent  tested  the  accuracy,  of  the  opinions  which 
are  given  in  the  following  pages ;  I  am,  I  assure 
you,  deeply  grateful  for  the  kind  permission  with 


330280 


11  DEDICATION. 

which  you  have  favoured  me,  to  dedicate  them 
to  you. 

If  I  were  to  allow  myself  to  indulge  in  the 
expression  of  feelings,  which  a  recollection  of  my 
long  connection  with  your  Estates  might  prompt, 
I  should  risk  your  displeasure,  for  J  well  know, 
how  distasteful  to  you  would  he  the  language  of 
adulation  ;  I  shall  therefore  only  add,  that  it  gives 
me  pleasure  to  dedicate  my  Book  to  you,  hecause, 
from  long  experience,  I  know  you  to  he  the  zeal- 
ous patron  of  improvement  in  every  department 
of  rural  economy,  and  hecause  you  are  practically 
and  intimately  acquainted  with  the  subject  on 
which  I  have  written. 

Encouraging  as  it  would  he  to  me  if  it  were 
so,  I  do  not  expect  that  you  will  concur  with  me 
in  ALL  the  views  to  which  I  have  given  expres- 
sion :  nevertheless,  I  trust  I  may  be  allowed 


DEDICATION.  Ill 

to  hope  that,  in  the  main,  the  principles  which 
are  developed  will  approve  themselves  to  your 
judgment,  and  command  your  approbation. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

SIR, 
Your  most  obedient  obliged  Servant, 

J.  WEST. 

North  Collingham,  Notts. 
June,  1842, 


PREFACE. 


IT  has  probably  been  with  many  others  as  it 
is  with  the  writer  of  this,  who  finds  the  little 
which  he  has  to  say  by  way  of  Preface,  more 
disagreeable,  and  more  difficult,  than  he  has  found 
any  other  part  of  his  book.  A  Preface,  however, 
of  some  sort  or  other,  must  be  written. 

The  writer  cannot  say,  as  some  have  done, 
that  he  has  pushed  off  his  bark,  and  is  content 
to  leave  it  to  its  fate — he  does  not  pretend,  with 
Kent,  the  author  of  "  Hints  to  Gentlemen  of  Land- 
ed Property,"  that  "  these  hints  are  published 
from  no  motives  of  interest  whatever" — on  the 
contrary  he  is  ready  to  avow,  that,  while  he  would 


VI  PREFACE. 

feel  it,  under  a  certain  modification  of  circum- 
stances, a  most  agreeable  and  congenial  occupa- 
tion of  his  time,  to  be  employed  in  establishing 
a  better  practice  in  the  management  of  Woods, 
Plantations,  &c.  he  is  not  in  a  position  fb  be  so 
disinterested  as  altogether  to  lose  sight  of  his  own 
interest  in  the  matter.  Further:  while  he  feels 
it  to  be  an  object  of  vast  importance  to  the  great 
body  of  Landed  Proprietors,  and  others,  that  a 
new  system  should  be  J|dd  down  and  acted  upon, 
the  Author  wishes  not  to  disguise  the  fact,  that 
he  seeks  the  honourable  distinction  of  being  per- 
mitted to  assist  in  correcting  the  evils,  which  he 
thinks  he  may  have  been  the  first  so  strongly  to 
point  out. 

The  Author  cannot  but  hope  that  he  has 
proved  all  that  can  be  fairly  considered  as  implied 
in  his  Title ;  and  if  he  have  done  so,  it  may  be 
productive  of  much  advantage  to  those  who  pos- 
sess property  in  Woods,  &c.:  their  attention  being 


PREFACE.  Vll 

once  strongly  called  to  the  siibject,  they  cannot 
fail  to  perceive  that  there  is  plenty  for  them 
to  do. 

The  Author  needs  not  to  be  told,  for  of  that 
he  is  quite  conscious — that  his  book  is  very  de- 
fective in  arrangement,  and  faulty  in  style,  but  if 
he  have  succeeded  in  the  attempt  to  be  tolerably 
"plain  and  perspicuous,"  and  "not  very  ungram- 
matical,"  that  is  as  much,  perhaps,  as  ought  to 
be  required  of  a  practical  man. 

One  word  is  necessary  here,  with  reference  to 
Sir  H.  Steuart,  whos^e  name,  as  a  Planter,  the 
Author  has  mentioned  at  page  58.  He  wishes  to 
correct  an  impression  which  he  may  have  pro- 
duced, that  the  honourable  Baronet  is  altogether 
opposed  to  the  practice  of  preparing  the  soil  pre- 
vious to  planting.  This  is  not  the  case  ;  but  Sir 
Henry,  with  singular  inconsistency,  after  speaking 
in  the  highest  terms  in  favour  of  trenching,  manu- 
ring, &c,  declares  the  practice  to  be  inapplicable 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

to  Plantations  on  a  large  scale.  It  is  unneces- 
sary to  remark  here,  that  on  this  point  the  Author 
is  of  a  different  opinion. 

P.  S.  The  Author  reviews  neglected  Woods, 
Plantations,  &c.  and  gives  directions  for  their 
proper  management,  or  he  would  contract  with 
any  Noblemen  or  Gentlemen  to  overlook  their 
Woods,  &c.  at  so  much  per  acre  per  year. 


INTRODUCTION. 


IN  writing  the  few  "PLAIN  REMARKS"  which 
follow,  I  shall,  in  a  great  measure,  confine  myself 
to  the  consideration  of  two  main  points,  viz. — the 
present  state^  and  the  present  mode  of  managing 
such  Old  Woods,  Plantations,  and  Hedge-Row 
Timber,  as  I  deem  to  be  under  a  course  of  impro- 
per treatment,  suggesting,  as  I  go  on,  an  improved 
system  of  management  of  them  all.  Respecting 
both  these  points,  I  shall  have  to  make  statements 
which,  to  me,  appear  very  important — statements, 
which  I  know  cannot  be  controverted, — and 
which,  though  they  may  apply,  as  they  are 
intended  to  apply,  more  particularly  to  some  dis- 
tricts than  to  others,  will,  more  or  less,  apply  to 
all  where  Woods,  Plantations,  and  well-stocked 
Hedge  Rows  abound. 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

Upon  the  second  point  in  particular, — I  mean 
the  present  modes  of  managing  property  of  this 
description, — I  shall  endeavour  to  show  in  what 
respects,  and,  as  well  as  I  am  ahle,  to  what 
extent,  it  is  erroneous  or  defective. 

But  first,  I  would  remark  generally,  that 
although  the  treatment  of  Plantations  is  had 
enough,  it  is  not  so  grossly  had  as  is  that  of 
Ancient  Woods  and  Hedge  Row  Timber.  I  have, 
for  some  time,  had  it  in  my  mind  to  write  respect- 
ing the  two  latter,  having  heen  long  convinced 
that  a  most  extensive  waste  of  property,  and  loss 
of  time,  was  going  on,  hut,  until  now,  I  have 
neither  had  leisure  to  prepare  for,  nor  confidence 
to  submit  to,  a  "  discerning  public,"  those  views 
which  have  heen  matured  during  an  eighteen 
years  ohservation  and  experience. 

I  have  now,  however,  resolved  to  print,  and 
whatever  may  he  the  precise  result  to  myself,  if, 
by  means  of  this  publication,  the  attention  of 
Noblemen  .and  Gentlemen  is  drawn  only  to  one 
hundredth  part  of  their  neglected  Woods  and  Plan- 
tations, and  of  their  abused  Hedge  Rows,  so  as  to 
induce  them  immediately  to  determine  to  arrest 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

the  progress  of  the  mischief  that  is  going  on,  and 
not  only  to  commence  the  work  of  improvement, 
but  to  proceed  to  the  necessary  extent  in  carrying 
it  on,  two  most  important  results,  at  least^  will  be 
produced ;  viz.;  to  Proprietors  themselves  a  very 
considerable  present  or  prospective  advantage — in 
some  cases  both — and  a  large  measure  of  real 
benefit  to  the  Labouring  Classes,  in  the  increased 
demand  which  will  be  created  for  the  labour  of 
their  hands.  This  last  object  is  so  vastly  import- 
ant, that  an  enlightened  and  benevolent  mind  will 
always  be  ready  to  listen  to  any  suggestions  that 
may  be  thrown  out  to  promote  it ;  but  at  a  period 
like  the  present,  when  one  great  constitutional 
change  in  our  domestic  policy  has  been  made,  and 
when  there  is  too  much  cause  to  fear  that  another 
is  about  to  be  tried, — each  of  which  is  as  much 
an  experiment  in  morals  as  any  thing  else, — it  is 
invested  with  a  much  higher  claim  on  the  attention 
of  those  to  whom  the  appeal  may  be  made,  than 
in  ordinary  circumstances  it  would  be. 

It  will  readily  be  seen  that  I  refer  to  the  new 
Poor  Law  and  to  the  Corn  Laws ;  the  former  of 
which  throws  the  poor  man  almost  exclusively  on 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

his  own  resources.  To  provide  him  therefore 
with  healthful  employment,  at  such  a  time,  and 
under  such  circumstances,  will  tend  more  than 
any  thing  else  can  do,  to  lessen  the  difficulty  and 
danger  of  the  transition  from  the  old  to  the  new 
law,  and  to  mitigate  the  perhaps  necessary  seve- 
rity of  the  provisions  of  the  latter.  . 

Before  I  proceed  any  further  I  would  state,  that 
I  shall  not  attempt  any  thing  like  a  systematic 
course,  nor  shall  I  confine  myself  to  a  scientific 
arrangement  of  my  subjects  :  nor  again,  shall  I 
trouble  myself  about  the  technical  names  of  the 
several  Trees  which  I  may  have  to  mention :  nor, 
lastly,  is  it  my  intention  to  aim  at  elegance  of 
composition.  I  do  not  write  to  establish  a  literary 
reputation,  well  knowing  that  to  such  an  object 
I  am  unequal,  and  that  if  it  were  otherwise,  there 
is  a  want  of  adaptation  in  my  subject ;  but  I  wish 
to  be  understood  as  addressing  myself  to  those 
who,  not  being  themselves  practically  acquainted 
with  the  subjects  here  treated  of,  are  not  unwilling 
to  listen  to  the  opinions  which  I  have  formed,  and 
profit  by  the  experience  which  I  have  derived 
from  close  and  extensive  observation,  while  myself 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

actually  employed  in  the  details  of  management, 
connected  alike  with  the  Timber  and  Coppice  of 
ancient  Woods,  with  the  planting  and  subsequent 
treatment  of  Plantations  and  with  Hedge- Row 
Timber. 

Of  course  I  am  aware  that  much  has  been 
said,  and  much  has  been  written,  by  others  who 
have  preceded  me,  on  these  subjects,  but  notwith- 
standing that  this  be  true,  I  am  not  at  all  of 
opinion  that  this  branch  of  rural  economy  has 
received  its  fair  share  of  attention,  or  that  the 
subject  has  been  viewed  in  that  particular  aspect 
in  which  it  is  here  presented,  highly  important 
and  interesting  as  that  view  must  be  acknowledged 
to  be,  when  considered  as  it  affects  the  growers 
of  Timber,  the  labouring  poor,  and  the  commu- 
nity at  large. 

There  will  be  many,  doubtless,  who  will  dis- 
sent from  some  of  my  opinions.  They  will  have  a 
good  and  sufficient  cause  to  do  so,  if  they  adjudge 
them  to  be  erroneous  :  they  have  just  as  much 
right  to  hold  their  opinions  as  I  have  to  hold  mine, 
but  I  wish  it  to  be  always  remembered  by  those 
who  may  read  the  following  pages,  that  every 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

conclusion  to  which  I  have  been  brought,  and 
every  inference  that  I  have  drawn,  has  had  its 
origin  in  actual  experience. 

To  practical  men,  and  more  particularly  still, 
to  such  practical  men  as  are  like  myself — to  use  a 
homely  phrase — more  at  home  in  a  Wood  or  Plan- 
tation than  any  where  else — I  need  not  make  more 
than  a  general  reference  to  what  they  daily  see,  in 
proof  of  the  "mismanagement"  which  I  intend  to 
show,  but  as  to  the  Proprietors  it  surely  must  be 
otherwise.  They  cannot,  one  would  suppose,  be  at 
all  aware  of  the  fact,  that  one  part,  and  that  a  most 
interesting  and  valuable  part,  of  their  property,  is 
so  mismanaged  as  to  call  loudly  for  an  immediate 
remedy !  I  affirm,  however,  without  hesitation,  that 
while  Agriculture  has  made  rapid  strides  in  the 
march  of  improvement,  and  while  that  first  of  all 
improvements  in  Agriculture,  Draining — (although 
as  yet  but  very  imperfectly  understood,  and,  in  a 
very  serious  number  of  cases,  very  ill  done) — has 
been  extensively  attended  to — while  the  adaptation 
of  Manures  (although  science  has  yet  much  to  do, 
and  much  to  teach  us,  on  this  point)  has  been 
carried  to  such  an  extent,  as  is  unparalleled  in 


INTRODUCTION.  '  9 

any  age,  and  almost  in  any  country  but  our  own  ; 
and  withal  so  successfully,  as  to  turn  barren  and 
hitherto  sterile  Wastes,  Forests,  and  Moors,  into 
productive  occupations — while  such  an  extraor- 
dinary degree  of  ingenuity  has  been  applied  to  the 
invention  and  practical  working  of  different  im- 
plements, as  to  render  the  operations  of  husbandry 
comparatively  simple  and  easy — and  while  yet 
once  more,  the  attention  which  has  been  paid  to 
the  breeding  and  rearing  of  the  various  kinds  of 
Stock,  has  raised  them  to  a  pitch  of  excellence 
which  our  forefathers  never  contemplated,  and 
which  scarcely  leaves  any  room  for  ftirther  effort—- 
while all  this  proves,  I  say,  that  the  large  landed 
Proprietors  of  this  country,  stimulated  and  assisted 
by  the  skill  of  the  man  of  science,  and  by  the 
enterprize  and  persevering  efforts  of  the  Tenant 
Farmer,  have  paid  almost  adequate  attention  to 
one  part  of  their  estates,  it  is  equally  undeniable 
that  the  present  condition  of  a  large  proportion  of 
the  Woods,  Hedge-Rows,  and  Plantations,  fur- 
nishes proof  of  the  grossest  neglect,  and  a  perfectly 
unaccountable  want  of  attention.  To  point  out 
wherein  this  neglect  consists,  and  to  prove  this 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

want  of  attention,  will  be  the  object  of  the  follow- 
ing "  Remarks." 

It  is  really  surprising  that  in  an  age  like  this, 
when  there   is  an   onward   movement    in  almost 
everything  else,  such  instances  of  "mismanage- 
ment" of  Woods,  &c.   should  every  where  meet 
the  eye.      If  any  one  well  acquainted  with  the 
subject,  were  to  take  horse  and  ride  through  every 
county  of  the  kingdom,  he  would  find  in  ninety 
cases  out  of  a  hundred,  the  Old  Woods  especially, 
to  be  in  as  bad  a  condition  as  if  they  were  solely 
intended  for  fox  or  game  covers,  and  incapable  of 
being  turned  to  any  other  use.     They  are  permit- 
ted to  continue  precisely  in  the  same  uncultivated 
state  in    which    their    present  possessors    found 
them,    Gentlemen    too    often   totally    overlooking 
the   important  fact,    that    while   they  might,    by 
proper  attention  to  the  draining  and  improvement 
of  their   Woods,  and  the  best  mode  of  disposing 
of   the    produce,    give    employment    to    a    very 
considerable   number   of  their   poor   dependents  ; 
increase  the  present  revenue,  and  lay  the  found- 
ation of  a   greatly  improved  permanent  income 
from  them,  they  would,  to  a  very  small  extent, 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

if   at    all,    injure   the   covers   for    sporting   pur- 
poses. 

As  to  Plantations,  the  treatment  may  be  said 
to  he  somewhat  better,  but,  as  I  have  before  said, 
in  most  cases  it  is  bad  enough,  as  I  shall  here- 
after show. 

Of  the  Hedge  Rows  I  affirm,  that  they  are, 
very  generally,  either  left  entirely  to  themselves, 
or  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  occupiers  of  the 
soil,  who,  having  no  interest  in  their  success,  but 
rather  the  contrary,  cannot,  of  course,  be  expected 
to  exercise  any  care  in  their  preservation. 

Having  thus  briefly  introduced  the  various 
subjects  which  it  is  my  intention  to  notice  more 
fully  under  separate  and  distinct  heads,  I  shall 
commence  my  first  chapter  with  "  Ancient 
Woods." 


CHAP.   I. 

ANCIENT     WOODS. 


WHILE  professionally  employed,  and  while 
passing  from  one  part  of  the  country  to  another, 
my  surprise  has  often  heen  great,  when  I  have 
witnessed,  from  its  effects,  the  indifference  which 
many  gentlemen  manifest,  as  to  the  state  and 
management  of  this  description  of  property :  there 
appears,  in  comparatively  few  instances,  to  be  any 
thing  worth  the  name  of  an  effort  to  rescue  them 
from  that  state  of  wild  unproductiveness  in  which 
they  have  been  for  ages  !  One  generation  passes 
away  after  another,  and  like  as  was  the  father,  so 
is  the  son — and  as  was  the  agent  of  the  former,  so 
is  the  agent  of  the  latter !  All  they  have  done  for 
ages  gone  by,  they  do  now,  and  little  or  nothing 
more.  They  calculate,  with  tolerable  accuracy, 


14  ANCIENT   WOODS. 

the  return  of  the  year,  when,  according  to  imme- 
morial custom,  they  ought  to  "  cut,  and  hack,  and 
hew,"  and  they  go  into  the  wood  for  the  purpose 
of  setting  out  the  piece  which  they  intend  to  fell : 
this  they  divide,  in  many  districts,  into  a  certain 
number  of  lots,  or  ranges,  of  what  they  call  "  Gad 
Wood,"  which  vary  considerably  in  size,  but 
which,  as  far  as  they  go,  include  all  the  Under- 
wood. At  the  same  time,  the  sapient  woodman 
contrives  to  satisfy  himself — and  it  is  seldom  that 
his  superiors  make  any  inquiry  into  the  matter — 
as  to  the  number  of  Oak  Trees,  &c.  that  it  is  proper 
to  take  down ;  and  then,  after  due  notice  given,  the 
whole  is  sold,  Underwood  and  all,  by  Auction. 

It  is  a  common  practice  to  describe  a  ring 
round  a  portion  of  the  Standard  Trees  which  are 
to  remain — such  as  the  Oak,  Ash,  &e. — and  these, 
of  course,  are  intended  for  future  timber,  the 
selection  being  often  as  bad  as  it  well  can  be,  but 
the  whole  system,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end, 
is  most  objectionable,  and  it  is  matter  of  astonish- 
ment that  it  should  have  continued  so  long.  It  is 
objectionable  for  many  reasons,  among  which  I 
mention  the  following:  viz.:  because  the  Propri- 


ANCIENT   WOODS.  15 

etor  throws    out  of  his  own   hands   that  control 
which  a  gentleman    ought    to   have   over   e very- 
person  who  enters  his  woods,  whether  as  a  pur- 
chaser or  as  a  workman.     This  control  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  in   order    to    secure  two   things, 
for  which  Conditions  of  Sale,  however  well  they 
may  be  drawn  up,  offer  but  a  very  feeble  secu- 
rity— I  mean  the  prevention  of  entry  by  teams,  fyc. 
at  an  improper  season,    and  the  clearing  of  the 
Woods  at  a  given  time.     There  are  other  reasons 
which  apply  more  or  less  strongly,   according  to 
the  condition  of  the   wood,  as  to   its  stock,  and 
the  staple  of  its  soil.     Carting,  or  rather  team- 
ing, for  carts  are  not  often  used,  will  inevitably 
do  much   injury  in  woods   that  are  well  stocked, 
if  the  utmost  possible  care  is    not  taken,   what- 
ever the  soil  may  be ;   but  if  it  be   a  tenacious, 
retentive,  cold,  clay,  damage  would  be  done  in  two 
ways:  viz.:  in  the  poaching  of  the  land,  and  in 
that  which  would  be   done  to  the  stock   by  the 
wheels.    The  injury  to  which  woods  are  liable  from 
these  two  causes,  and  others,  may  be  almost  wholly 
prevented  by  the  active  supervision  of  an  intelligent 
woodman.     Such  a  person  will  take  care  to  divide 


16  ANCIENT   WOODS. 

his  cuttings  as  nearly  as  he  can  to  suit  the  local 
demand,  and  to  begin  as  early  as  possible,  so  that 
every  opportunity  may  he  seized,  in  suitable  wea- 
ther, for  getting  away  the  produce,  and  it  must  he 
his  own  personal  duty  to  see  that  no  avoidable 
injury  is  done  to  the  stools  by  the  carriages. 
These  reasons  appear  to  me  to  be  quite  sufficient 
to  establish  a  decided  preference  for  the  mode 
which  I  recommend  over  the  system  to  which  I 
have  referred  ;  but  there  is  another,  which  I  can- 
not but  think  will  be  deemed  of  importance  enough 
by  itself  to  decide  the  question,  and  it  is  this:  viz.: 
the  impossibility  of  deciding,  before  the  Underwood 
is  cut,  what  Oak  Trees  ought,  or  ought  not,  to 
come  down.  It  is  quite  possible,  I  admit,  to  jump 
to  a  conclusion  on  the  subject :  to  deny  this  in  the 
face  of  the  evidence  which  every  succeeding  Win- 
ter affords,  would  be  absurd ;  but  I  affirm  that  no 
woodman  can  do  it  correctly.  He  ought,  at  least, 
to  have  a  clear  coast,  to  enable  him  to  give  due 
consideration  to  the  various  points  on  which  he 
should  be  fully  satisfied,  before  he  cuts  down  that, 
which  his  whole  life  would  not  suffice  to  set 
up  again.  How  little  consideration  enters  into 


ANCIENT   WOODS.  17 

these  matters,  it  is  easy  for  those  who  really  under- 
stand them  to  judge.  For  my  own  part,  I  am 
compelled  to  say,  that  I  never  yet  saw  a  single 
instance,  where  timber  was  selected  in  the  way 
to  which  I  refer,  without  gross  blunders  being 
committed.  But  more  than  this  may  be  affirmed — 
and  it  is  not  an  over-weening  fondness  for  my 
own  plans,  but  a  perfect  conviction  of  the  utter 
want  of  adaptation  in  the  present  practice  of 
many,  which  induces  me  to  say  it — there  is  not 
one  solitary  argument  that  can  be  advanced  in 
favour  of  the  practice  which  I  have  condemned. 
If  this  be  so,  then  let  all  gentlemen  abandon  it ; 
if  not,  let  the  arguments  be  brought  forward. 

I  have  said  that  the  whole  system  is  wrong, 
and  T  add,  that  no  good  will  be  done  by  a  patch- 
work attempt  to  amend  it.  So  long,  for  instance, 
as  a  proprietor  retains  the  "  Gad- Wood  "  plan,  he 
will  insure  the  continuance  of  the  old  system  of 
"mismanagement."  He  might  as  well  think  of 
bending,  by  his  own  personal  strength,  one  of  the 
sturdy  stems  of  his  well-grown  oaks,  as  attempt 
to  turn  his  woodman  gently  aside  out  of  his  usual 
track — especially  if  he  be  an  old  man — there  must 


18  ANCIENT   WOODS. 

be  a  total  revolution  effected — he  must  be  put  into 
an  entirely  new  course,  if  either  the  condition  of 
the  woods,  or  the  revenue  arising  from  them,  is  to 
be  improved. 

Unfortunately  it  seldom  happens  that  custom- 
ers are  not  found  for  all  that  may  be  offered, 
in  almost  any  neighbourhood,  and  in  any  way. 
I  say  unfortunately,  inasmuch  as  it  keeps  the 
managers  of  many  woods  exactly  stationary -, 
while  everybody  else  is  going  on.  If  they  had 
a  little  difficulty  to  contend  with,  it  might, 
perhaps,  induce  a  little  reflection,  and  raise  a 
doubt  in  their  minds  as  to  the  propriety  of  the 
course  they  were  pursuing  ;  which  would  be  a 
great  point  gained,  as  there  has  been  very  little 
thought  applied  to  the  management  of  this  species 
of  property,  either  by  its  owners,  or  by  the  per- 
sons they  have  employed. 

There  are,  no  doubt,  many  refreshing  instances 
of  good  management  to  be  met  with — I  could 
myself  mention  a  few,  were  it  not  invidious  to  do 
so — but  in  a  large  majority  of  cases,  from  mistaken 
management,  woods  are  in  a  high  degree,  and  for 
many  reasons,  a  discredit  to  those  who  belong  to 


ANCIENT  WOODS.  19 

them.  If  the  Woodman's  account  were  fairly 
examined — if  a  Dr.  and  Cr.  balance  sheet  were 
exhibited,  it  would  be  found  that  the  land  was 
paying  a  very  small  rent  indeed  from  the  under- 
wood, even  where  there  might  be  very  little  oak, 
which  most  assuredly  ought  not  to  be  the  case; 
for  I  contend  that  there  is  no  Ancient  Woodland 
which  is  not  considerably  below  the  average 
quality  of  what  I  have  seen,  that  is  not  quite 
capable  of  growing  a  full  crop — either  of  under- 
wood or  of  oak  ;  and  for  this  plain  reason, 
viz. ;  because  the  period  of  pecuniary  sacrifice, 
the  infancy  of  the  wood,  is  gone  by  :  and 
that  woodman's  management  is  essentially  de- 
fective, who  cannot  show,  upon  every  acre 
under  his  care,  a  good  crop  either  of  the  one 
or  the  other.  I  would  here  remark,  that  a  full 
crop  of  both  cannot  contemporaneously  grow 
up  together;  and  this  consideration  is  of  far 
more  importance  in  the  management  of  woods 
than  is  at  first  sight  imagined,  or,  than  by  a 

slight  acquaintance  with   the    subject    would    be 
perceived. 
D 


20  ANCIENT    WOODS. 

If  there  is  found  in  a  wood  a  superabundance 
,of  oaks,  and  if  they  are  seen  to  be  thrifty,  nothing 
could  possibly  be  so  ill  judged  as  to  thin  them  too 
freely  ^  even  though  the  crop  of  underwood  were 
entirely  sacrificed;  for,  the  very  objects  most  to 
be  desired,  can  only  be  attained  by  bringing  about 
that  state  of  things  which  is  here  supposed,  and 
which  necessarily  involves  the  sacrifice  of  the 
underwood,  or,  at  the  least,  all  idea  of  any  con- 
siderable profit  from  it.  Under  these  circumstan- 
ces, the  exertions  of  the  skilful  Woodman  will  be 
directed  to  the  securing  of  great  length  of  bole  or 
stem;  for  these,  and  these  alone,  are  the  trees 
which  have  any  legitimate  right  to  a  place  in 
a  wood :  and,  of  course,  the  longer  their  boles 
are,  the  better. 

Having  attained  this  object,  the  woodman  will 
then  anxiously  employ  the  best  means  in  his 
power,  for  encouraging  the  growth  of  the  under- 
wood, so  far  as,  at  least,  to  keep  it  alive,  and  as 
healthy  as  possible  ;  and  if  he  have  well  considered 
the  subject,  he  will  have  contrived  to  lay  down  a 
plan,  a  regularly  systematic  plan,  that  his  suc- 
cessors can  neither  mistake,  nor,  without  some 


ANCIENT   WOODS.  21 

good  reason,  depart  from,  by  which,  during  the 
period  that  the  crop  of  oaks  is  being  taken,  the 
stock  of  underwood  shall  gradually  be  acquiring 
strength  and  vigour,  and  getting  well  hold  of  the 
soil ;  as  well  as  that,  they  shall  be  so  equally  dif- 
fused over  it,  as  fully  and  beneficially  to  occupy 
the  ground,  when  the  oaks  are  all  gone.  All 
these  calculations,  and  many  more,  which  it  is 
impossible  to  enumerate,  will  suggest  themselves 
to  the  mind  of  a  man  well-skilled  in  the  manage- 
ment of  woods ;  but  there  are  very  few  indeed, 
who  either  see  the  necessity  of  making,  or  will 
give  themselves  the  trouble  to  make,  any  calcu- 
lations at  all.  In  the  oversight  of  woods,  &c. 
much  more  is  included  than  is  generally  supposed. 
He  who  imagines,  as  too  many  do,  that  when 
woods  have  been  cut,  they  may  be  safely  left  to 
themselves  ;  and  that  when  the  period  comes 
round  again  for  felling,  they  will  do  all  that  could 
be  expected  from  them,  has  a  very  imperfect 
knowledge  of  the  subject,  or,  rather,  no  knowledge 
at  all :  and  further ;  he  who  does  not  know  that 
woods  will  ultimately  pay  well  for  the  highest 
degree  of  care,  attention,  and  culture,  is  not  a 


22  ANCIENT   WOODS. 

fitting  person  to  have  the  oversight  of  them.  But 
such  is  the  ignorance  on  the  part  of  many,  who 
call  themselves  woodmen,  "and  the  carelessness  of 
their  employers,  that  there  is  a  total  negation  of 
forethought  and  calculation,  instead  of  every  step 
that  is  taken  having  reference  to  a  remote  period. 

A  nobleman,  or  gentleman,  or  his  agent,  may 
calculate  what  will  he  the  effect  upon  a  farm  at 
the  expiration  of  a  lease  of  twenty-one  years,  if  it 
be  not  cultivated  as  it  ought  to  be,  and,  by  intro- 
ducing certain  clauses  into  the  lease,  he  may 
secure  himself  against  the  certain  and  serious  loss 
which  would  accrue  to  him  from  bad  management ; 
and  he  who  does  not  so  calculate,  has  a  very  in- 
adequate idea  of  the  nature  of  the  contract  which 
he  is  about  to  make  ;  but  the  man  who  takes  upon 
himself  the  management  of  woods,  and  whose  views 
and  plans  are  not  extended  over  several  of  those 
cycles  of  time  which  intervene  between  the  seasons  of 
cutting,  does  not  rightly  comprehend  the  peculiar 
duties  which  he  has  undertaken  to  perform,  and 
ought,  at  once,  to  be  relieved  from  them,  and  pro- 
vided for  in  some  other  way ;  for  if  woods  are 
worth  having  at  all,  they  are  worth  looking  after, 


ANCIENT   WOODS.  23 

and  if  they  will  pay  for  proper  culture,  which  no 
one  who  understands  the  subject  will  deny,  they 
ought  to  receive  it,  for  various  weighty  reasons, 
which  have  been  before  adverted  to. 

The  foregoing  remarks  will  apply,  of  course, 
most  directly,  to  woods  where  there  is  an  apparent 
redundancy  of  oak.  I  will  now  suppose  the  case  of  a 
wood  where  there  is  a  deficiency r,  or  little  or  no  oak. 
Here  there  ought,  unquestionably,  to  be  a  full  crop 
of  underwood.  This  underwood  ought  to  be 
adapted,  as  to  kind,  first,  to  the  nature  of  the  soil ; 
and,  secondly,  to  the  local  demand,  if  the  heal 
demand  be  good:  and  as  to  its  age,  of  course  it 
must  be  that  which  best  suits  the  market,  or  when, 
comparatively,  it  will  fetch  the  best  price  ;  so  that 
in  some  districts,  as  in  Kent,  for  instance,  it  will 
sell  best,  and  therefore  ought  to  be  cut,  at  about 
twelve  years  of  age:  in  others  it  would  not  sell 
so  well  at  less  than  from  fifteen  to  twenty  years 
old.  But  it  does  not  follow  as  a  matter  of  course, 
that  because  a  wood  has  always,  previously,  stood 
from  twenty  to  twenty-five  years,  it  should  for 
ever  continue  to  do  so ;  on  the  contrary,  I  should 
say,  that  there  are  very  few  woods  indeed,  if  any, 


24  ANCIENT   WOODS. 

which  ought  to  stand  more  than  twenty  years,  and 
a  great  proportion  of  them,  nothing  like  so  long. 
The  great  reason  why  the  produce  of  woods  does  not 
earlier  come  to  maturity,  is  the  gross  "mismanage- 
ment" to  which  they  are  suhjected  :  hut  when  the 
time  shall  arrive  that  they  shall  he  deemed  worthy 
of  as  much  "  care,  attention,  and  culture,"  as  any 
other  part  of  an  estate,  then  will  they  be  found, 
probahly,  to  yield  qnite  as  good  a  return  for  it ; 
and  the  present  no  system  management  will  be 
exploded. 

In  all  cases  where  the  cycle  has  run  beyond 
twenty  years,  it  will,  at  least,  be  well  for  the 
proprietor,  or  his  manager,  to  sit  down  and  cal- 
culate whether  the  stuff  would  not  pay  better  if 
felled  some  years  earlier.  The  inquiry  can  do  no 
harm ;  and  much  good  may  possibly  arise  out  of  it. 
In  the  case  last  supposed,  viz.:  a  wood  with  little 
or  no  oak,  and  well  stocked  with  underwood  of  a 
suitable  kind,  there  cannot  be  a  doubt  upon  the 
subject ;  for  if  the  stock — by  which  term  I  mean 
the  shoots  which  have  sprung  up  from  the  stools — 
has  been  properly  treated,  it  will  have  arrived,  in 
twenty  years,  at  a  size  quite  large  enough  for 


ANCIENT    WOODS.  25 

agricultural  uses,  and  it  can  very  seldom  be 
allowed  to  stand  longer  without  serious  injury  to 
the  stools.  A  very  little  consideration  will  convince 
any  one,  who  does  not  resist  conviction,  that  such 
ought  to  be  the  state  of  a  wood  so  circumstanced 
as*  to  oak  ;  but  nevertheless  the  actual  condition 
of  most  woods  is  widely  different  from  this :  instead 
of  there  being  a  full  crop  of  underwood,  where 
there  is  a  deficiency  of  timber,  or  a  full  crop  of 
timber,  where  there  is  little  or  no  underwood,  it 
too  frequently  happens  that  there  is  neither  the 
one  nor  the  other,  even  on  land  which  is,  as  was 
remarked  before,  capable  of  yielding  a  handsome 
revenue !  And  here  let  it  not  be  supposed  that 
I  am  speaking  of  extreme  cases  only^  or  that  there 
are  but  few  woods  in  this  state  :  the  cases  are 
numerous :  I  have  seen,  and  could  point  out  many, 
but  this  I  shall  not  do :  I  rather  choose  to  leave 
these  observations  with  "all  whom  they  may  con- 
cern," to  work  conviction  where  they  are  seen  to 
be  just,  quite  indifferent  as  to  the  effect  which 
they  may  produce  on  the  minds  of  any  who  may 
oppose  them. 


26  ANCIENT   WOODS. 

And  now  let  me  ask — if  this  be  the  state  of 
many  woods — if,  neither  a   crop  of  timber  nor  of 
underwood  is  found — to  what  is  it  owing?    the 
reply  is  not  difficult:  it  is  mainly  attributable  to 
proprietors   themselves,    and   to  their  agents :    to 
woodmen  in  a  subordinate  degree.     In  proof  of  my 
first  position,  I  would  respectfully  remark,  that  if 
a  gentleman  chooses  to  sacrifice  every  thing  to  the 
idea  of  having  good  covers;  and,  supposing  that 
any  thing  which  interferes  with  the  primeval  state 
of  his   woods,   is   incompatible  with   this  object, 
refuses  to  do  any  thing  at  them,  the  woodman  may 
not  bear  the  blame.     Again :  if  a  proprietor  hap- 
pen, unfortunately,  to  have  such  an  aversion  to 
felling  timber — and  there  are  many  such — that  he 
will  sooner  let  it  rot  down,  or  allow  one  tree  to 
destroy  another ;  or  again  ;  suffer  the  timber  trees 
to   stand   so   thickly   that    they   not  only  totally 
destroy  each  other,  but  the  underwood  below  also, 
the  woodman  ought  not  to  be   censured  ;  except 
indeed,  he  have  advised  such  a  course,  which  I 
can  hardly  think  any  man  accustomed  to  woods 
could  do,   in  the  present  day.      Once  more ;    if 
gentlemen  lack  the  moral  courage — and  I  have 


ANCIENT   WOODS.  27 

met  with  some  of  this  description — to  treat  with 
the  contempt  which  it  deserves  the  vulgar  med- 
dling, the  idle  tattle  of  those  who  are  ever  ready 
to  say,  when  timber  is  felled,  that  the  owner's 
poverty,  and  not  his  will,  consents  to  the  deed,  we 
are  furnished  with  abundance  of  reasons  for  the 
serious  waste  of  property  that  is  going  on,  but  the 
woodman  is  not  in  fault,  neither  ought  he  to  be 
blamed.  Lastly:  if  proprietors  commit  the  man- 
agement of  their  woods  to  persons  who  are  wholly 
incompetent — as  is  too  often  the  case — to  discharge 
the  duties  confided  to  them,  I  cannot  see  that  the 
men  are  to  be  condemned,  but  rather  their  em- 
ployers. Wherever  such  "  mismanagement  " 
prevails  as  I  have  attempted  to  describe,  and 
have  seen  so  much  cause  to  lament,  it  may  gene- 
rally, I  think,  be  traced,  either  to  ignorance  on  the 
part  of  woodmen,  or  inattention  on  the  part  of 
their  employers :  but  it  will  be  quite  clear  to  all, 
who  will  allow  themselves  time  to  think  on  the 
subject,  that  the  grossest  mismanagement  is  to  be 
met  with,  not  on  first,  nor  even  on  second^  but 
on  third,  and  fourth-rate  estates,  where  regular 
woodmen  are  not  kept,  and  below  that  grade 


28  ANCIENT  WOODS. 

downwards,  to  property  which  is  in  the  hands  of 
Trustees,  or  mainly  under  the  control  of  Solicitors, 
or  Corporate  hodies ;  or,  which  is  probably  worse 
than  all,  under  the  supreme  direction  of  men  who 
having,  during  the  whole  of  their  business  life,  had 
too  many  Stewardships,  &c.  for  any  human  being 
to  look  after  and  manage  well,  cannot  of  course  be 
deemed  capable  of  judging  rightly  on  a  subject 
which  requires  the  closest  possible  attention,  the 
nicest  discrimination,  and  an  extended  and  varied 
experience. 

Much  mischief  has  also  arisen  from  the  em- 
ployment by  gentlemen,  and  by  their  agents,  of 
persons,  who,  while  they  may,  usefully  and  credit- 
ably, fulfil  their  duties  as  village  carpenters  and 
the  like,  cannot  possibly  possess  those  enlarged, 
comprehensive  views,  which  are  necessary  to  the 
proper  management  of  timber  generally,  and 
Ancient  Woods  especially,  I  must  here  protest 
against  the  conclusion  being  drawn,  that  I  am 
doing  injustice  to  any  class  of  men  in  remarking, 
as  I  have  done,  on  their  manner  of  discharging  the 
trust  committed  to  them.  As  to  the  professional 
gentlemen,  either  their  engagements,  their  position, 


ANCIENT  WOODS.  29 

or  their  habits,  interpose  an  insurmountable  diffi- 
culty,  and  relieve  them  from  the  charge  of  wilful 
neglect :    and  as  to  the  others  it  is  no  injustice  to 
them  to  affirm,   as  I  do  most  positively,  that  there 
are  principles  and  considerations  involved  in  this 
subject,  which   they  can,    in  no  wise,   grasp  or 
comprehend  :  and  so  perfectly  clear  is  this  to  me, 
so  fully  am  I  borne  out  by  a  long  course  of  "ob- 
servation and  experience,"  that  I  have  never  yet 
seen  one  solitary  instance,  where  the  timber  taken 
down  in  thinning,  either  in  woods  or  plantations, 
when  in  smh  hands,  has  been  properly  done ;  and 
in  very  few  cases  indeed,  either  here,  or  higher 
up  the  scale,  without  the  most  serious  blunders. 
One  case  has  fallen   under  my   observation   this 
Winter,    (1842,)    where   oak  timber  trees  were 
selected  and  marked  for  sale,  which  were  exactly, 
in  every  respect,  such  as  a  good  judge  would  wish 
to  see  in  every  wood ;  and  not  only,  not  too  thick, 
but,  from  the  same  injudicious  mode  of  selecting 
and  marking  at  previous  auctions,  much  too  thin. 
They  were  also  in  a  state  of  high  vigorous  health, 
and   moreover,  there   was    no   underwood   which 
could  be  benefited  !     I  admit  that  this  was  a  more 


30  ANCIENT   WOODS. 

flagrant  outrage  against  the  principles  which  ought 
to  rule  in  selecting,  than  is  usually  committed,  but 
the  work  is  hardly  ever  done  as  it  ought  to  be. 

But  whatever  difference  of  opinion  may  arise 
among  practical  men,  upon  the  points  now  under 
consideration,  and  on  whomsoever  the  blame  may 
rest,  it  is  unquestionable  that  the  actual  state  of 
a  large  proportion  of  our  Ancient  Woods  is  very 
bad  indeed :  they  are  either  crowded  with  inferior 
oak  timber,  along  with  the  most  miserable  rubbish 
as  underwood  ;  or,  if  they  contain  any  thing  valu- 
able in  either  the  one  or  the  other,  no  principles, 
or  rules  of  any  kind,  are  applied  in  the  manage- 
ment of  them  ;  and,  consequently,  they  are,  on 
some  account  or  other,  and  of  course  more  or  less 
rapidly,  passing  through  the  stage  of  deterioration^ 
and  are  annually  losing  to  their  owners,  a  heavy 
per  centage  on  their  value.  In  many  cases,  the 
oak,  from  ages  of  "mismanagement,"  is  stunted  in 
growth,  and  of  a  form,  and  shape,  totally  unsuited 
to  the  place  where  it  stands  ;  and  the  underwood 
consists  of  that  alone  which  is  indigenous  to  the 
soil,  and  which,  therefore,  no  neglect  can  destroy, 
nor  any  culture  improve  :  in  addition  to  all  this, 


ANCIENT   WOODS.  31 

they  are  often,  nay  almost  always,  on  clayey, 
retentive  soils,  ruined  with  water :  they  are  peri- 
odically shut  up,  for  from  eighteen  to  twenty -five 
years,  during  which  time,  it  is  impossible  to  do 
any  thing  at  them  ;  and,  when  they  are  cleared 
of  the  underwood,  instead  of  the  opportunity  being 
gratefully  seized,  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  those 
operations  which  can  only  be  carried  on  at  such 
a  time,  they  are  shut  up  again,  and  left  in  their 
original  state — except  indeed  they  may  have  been 
despoiled  of  some  of  their  oak — nothing  being  done 
at  them,  or,  if  any  thing,  probably  so  little,  or  so 
ill  done,  that  no  good  result  is  produced.  But 
what  ought  to  be  the  course  pursued  at  such  a 
time  ?  Why,  as  it  is  only  during  the  year  of 
' 'nagging,"  and  the  following  season,  that  any 
work  of  magnitude,  any  improvement  worth  men- 
tioning, can  be  carried  on ;  a  proprietor  should 
more  carefully  examine  his  woods  when  they  have 
been  cut,  than  he  would  any  other  description  of 
property  :  he  should  himself,  if  he  understand  it — 
which,  however,  is  very  seldom  the  case — or  if  he 
do  not,  by  a  person  who  is  conversant  with  such 
matters,  make  a  most  rigid,  and  particular  survey, 


32  ANCIENT   WOODS. 

in  order  to  satisfy  himself  as  to  what  ought  to  be 
done;  and  this  he  must  do  immediately  when  the 
underwood  is  cut,  or  rather,  as  soon  as  any  con- 
siderable portion  is  done,  so  that  he  may  have 
hefore  him  all  the  time  which  he  can  possibly 
command,  for  carrying  on,  and  completing,  his 
improvements.  He  must  not  he  deterred  from 
commencing  them  by  any  consideration  of  the 
remoteness  of  the  prospect  of  return  upon  his  out- 
lay ;  but,  instead  of  visiting  the  sins  of  his  fathers 
upon  the  generations  following  him,  he  must,  if 
the  case  demand  it,  make  a  present  sacrifice,  for 
the  benefit  of  his  posterity :  I  say  if  the  case 
demand  it,  but  this  will  not  very  frequently  hap- 
pen, as  there  are  very  few  instances  of  "mis- 
management" where  the  fear  of  cutting  timber 
has  not  been  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  that 
mismanagement ;  and  where  this  is  so,  there  is  at 
once  found  a  source  from  whence  may  be  obtained 
the  means  of  amply  paying  for  any  outlay  that 
may  be  required.  I  have  thus  far  remarked  only 
on  what  may,  and  what  ought  to  be  done,  when 
Ancient  Woods  come  to  be  felled  in  the  regular 
way,  and  at  the  usual  time  and  age ;  but  there 


ANCIENT   WOODS.  33 

are  vast  numbers  of  cases  where,  first,  the  con- 
dition of  the  woods  is  so  bad,  that  all  considerations 
about  the  usual  time,  are  merged  in  the  necessity 
for  immediately  commencing  the  work  of  reno- 
vation ;  and,  secondly,  the  instances  are  not  few, 
where  the  same  course  is  desirable,  in  order  that 
a  more  profitable  way  of  disposing  of  the  produce 
may  be  introduced,  to  supersede  the  old  jog-trot 
mode  of  getting  rid  of  it. 

With  regard  to  the  first,  it  will  at  once  be 
perceived,  by  a  practical  eye,  and  a  sound  judg- 
ment, whether  a  wood  is  in  such  a  state,  as  to  (he 
prospect  of  a  crop,  that  it  is  the  proprietor's  interest 
to  make  a  sacrifice  in  the  underwood  and  cut  it, 
although  it  may  sell  for  nothing  but  faggots,  rather 
than  finish^  or  run  out,  the  term,  at  the  end  of 
which  it  would  be  cut  in  the  usual  course.  I  have 
seen  hundreds  of  such  cases:  there  are  many 
in  almost  every  neighbourhood  where  woods  exist 
at  all ;  and  I  confidently  ask,  what  would  be  the 
use,  or  how  would  it  be  possible  to  show  the  pro- 
priety, of  completing  the  term  of  the  cycle,  if, 
first,  the  wood  contained  nothing  valuable  as  under- 
wood;  and  if,  secondly,  it  contained  a  considerable 


34  ANCIENT    WOODS. 

portion  of  timber  that  required  immediate  attention, 
on  some  account  or  other  ?  I  should,  for  instance, 
instantly  determine  to  cut,  where  1  found  a  wood 
crowded  with  a  class  of  unhealthy  oaks,  or  other 
timber :  hut  it  is  not  necessary  to  particularize,  as 
I  would  not  pretend  to  give  such  directions  here 
as  would  enable  a  gentleman  to  decide,  for  that 
could  only  be  done  after  inspection.  So  many 
points  have  to  be  considered,  that  a  careful  survey 
of  a  wood  must  be  made.  This  done,  fortunately 
there  is  no  difficulty  in  coming  to  a  correct  con- 
clusion upon  such  a  question  as  this.  A  practical 
man,  who  understands  what  he  is  about,  will  be 
in  no  danger  of  committing  an  error  in  the  decision 
to  which  he  will  be  led,  for  these  are  not  subjects 
on  which  a  difference  of  opinion  might  naturally 
arise  upon  an  examination  taken.  The  various 
considerations  for  cutting ,  or  forbearing  to  cut, 
would  so  certainly  present  themselves  to  the  mind 
of  a  person  really  competent  to  judge,  that  I  should 
say  there  would  be  no  doubt  whatever,  of  his 
deciding  correctly,  if  he  were  not  interfered  with 
by  the  personal^wish,  or  taste,  of  his  employer. 
It  is  with  this_  as  with  most  other  subjects : — 


ANCIENT   WOODS.  35 

wherever  men  understand  what  they  are  about, 
and  are  guided  and  governed  by  fixed  principles, 
matters  go  on  well ;  but  the  misfortune,  with  re- 
gard to  woods,  is,  that  ages  of  "mismanagement," 
and  other  causes,  interpose  obstacles  and  difficul- 
ties which  it  will  be  no  slight  task  to  overcome. 
To  give  a  brief  summary  of  my  views  upon  this 
important  point,  I  would  remark,  that  no  wood 
ought  to  be  allowed  to  run  out  its  term  which  is 
not  stocked  as  it  ought  to  be,  or  which,  if  stocked 
tolerably  well,  is  suffering  injury  from  imperfect 
drainage.  As  I  have  just  said,  these  points  must 
be  determined  by  an  examination  of  the  wood  by 
some  person  whose  judgment  may  be  relied  upon ; 
but  any  gentleman  may  see  at  once,  if  he  will, 
that  if  a  wood  is  really  in  the  state  which  I  have 
supposed,  viz.,  without  either  timber  or  underwood 
worth  standing,  &c.  it  would  be  perfectly  absurd 
to  let  it  stand ;  for  at  the  end  of  the  cycle  it  would 
be  very  little  better  than  at  the  beginning,  and  so 
much  more  time  would  be  irrecoverably  lost. 

As  to  the  second  point — the  improvement  of 
revenue  to  be  derived  from   a  different  mode  of 

disposing  of  the  produce,  I   am   of  opinion  that 
F 


36  ANCIENT   WOODS. 

much  might  be  done,  in  many  places,  without 
laying  an  increased  tax  on  the  local  buyers,  who 
are  generally  either  farmers,  'or  their  tradesmen, 
the  wheelwrights  and  carpenters  of  every  neigh- 
bourhood, and  who  already  pay  quite  enougli  for 
what  they  get ;  and  especially  the  former -,  to 
whom  I  would  much  sooner  recommend  their 
landlords  to  allow  an  abatement ',  as  an  encourage- 
ment to  them  to  keep  their  fences,  gates,  &c.  in 
good  order,  than  any  thing  in  the  shape  of  an 
advance.  But  still,  much  may  be  done  to  increase 
the  returns  from  woodland  property,  by  an  improv- 
ed system  of  management,  and,  first,  I  should 
advise  a  careful  assortment  of  the  stuff  after  it  is 
felled:  I  would  here,  as  in  every  thing  else, 
classify,  by  which  means,  the  different  kinds,  as 
well  as  the  different  sizes,  and  shapes,  will  come 
into  the  hands  of  such  persons  as  they  may  exactly 
suit,  instead  of  jumbling  all  sorts  together,  so  that 
a  buyer  is  obliged  to  purchase  that  which  he  does 
not  want,  in  order  to  come  at  another  portion  of 
the  same  lot  which  he  is  desirous  of  having. 

Secondly :  There  is  room  to  doubt,  I  think,  as 
hinted  before,   whether    mistakes    are    not  often 


ANCIENT   WOODS.  37 

made,  in  not  adapting  the  produce  of  woods  better 
as  to  its  age,  both  to  the  local  demand,  and  the 
interests  of  the  proprietor. 

Thirdly :  So  numerous  are  the  facilities  in  the 
present  day,  to  what  they  used  to  be,  for  the  trans- 
mission of  produce   of  every  kind  from  one  place 
to  another,  and  so  many  demands  have,   by  com- 
mercial enterprize,  been  opened  out,  which  were 
altogether  unknown  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago, 
that  it  may,  even  as  to  heavy  produce,  like  that 
of  woods,  be  always  questioned,  when  the  demand 
is  slack,   and  when  prices  are  low,   whether  the 
local  market  be  indeed  the  best  market,  or  whether 
the  produce  may  not  be  much  better  disposed  of 
in  some  other  way.     That  this  sometimes  occurs, 
I  can  prove  from  my  own  experience   in  many 
cases,  but  I  will  mention  only  one,   which  was 
that  of  an  Ancient  Wood,  a  twentieth  portion  of 
which  was  felled  every  year,   and  in  which,  from 
"mismanagement,"  a  large  quantity  of  the  stuff 
was  annually  left   unsold,    but   where,    after  the 
introduction  of  a  better  system,  the    whole  was 
disposed  of  without  difficulty. 


38  ANCIENT    WOODS. 

Fourthly :  A  great  increase  of  revenue  may 
be  derived  from  a  better  mode  of  managing  the 
stock,  both  of  timber  and  underwood:  the  latter 
rosy?  by  timely  and  judicious  pruning,  by  a  proper 
attention  to  draining,  &c.  be  brought  to  maturity 
at  a  much  earlier  period  than  it  has  hitherto  been 
done  in  many  places,  and  thus,  of  course,  be  made 
to  return  a  greater  rent. 

It  is  incredible  how  little  is  done  to  Ancient 
Woods  compared  with  what  ought  to  be  done,  in 
the  way  of  draining,  pruning,  stubbing  up  rub- 
bish, and  filling  up  with  young  plants  ;  although 
it  is  manifest  that,  whenever  a  wood  is  opened, 
these  important  operations  should  claim  the  very 
particular  attention  of  the  proprietor  or  his  wood- 
man. But  they  do  not  receive  it ;  and  hence  one 
cannot  wonder  at  the  stunted,  unhealthy  appear- 
ance, which  many  woods  exhibit.  They  are 
almost  always  without  any  effective  drainage,  it 
being  generally  thought  quite  sufficient  to  open 
out  a  few  paltry  drains,  which  the  falling  leaves 
of  the  first  Autumn  will  choke  up.  It  will  indeed 
very  seldom  be  found,  that  even  the  outside  ditches 
are  well  looked  after :  whereas  it  should  always 


ANCIENT   WOODS.  39 

be  the  anxious  concern  of  the  woodman  to  provide, 
as  well  as  he  possibly  can,  for  the  effectual  drain- 
age  of  a  wood  after  being  felled,  not  only  during 
a  year  or  two,  but  for  the  term  of  the  whole  cycle. 
Of  course  I  am  aware  that  the  leaves  must  fall, 
and,  consequently,  that  the  free  egress  of  the 
water  must,  in  some  ^degree,  be  impeded,  but, 
nevertheless,  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  woodman  to 
provide,  in  a  great  measure,  if  not  wholly,  against 
this  contingency,  by  making  a  sufficient  number 
of  ditches,  of  ample  capacity,  and  by  putting  them 
in  the  best  direction.  But  instead  of  this,  it  will 
very  rarely  be  found,  as  I  have  just  now  said, 
that  even  the  outside  ditches  are  properly  attended 
to.  The  consequence  is,  that  the  oaks,  and  our 
best  underwood,  the  ash,  not  liking  too  much 
moisture,  become  diseased,  and  make  compara- 
tively slow  progress:  in  fact,  their  existence  is 
shortened  by  it,  as  the  former  will  be  found  upon 
cold  clay  land,  having  a  strong  subsoil,  to  be  very 
stunted  and  sickly  in  their  appearance,  and  ulti- 
mately to  die  at  the  top,  when,  of  course,  they 
must  be  cut  down;  while  the  latter  will  much 
sooner  become  hollow,  and  they  too,  will  finally 


40  ANCIENT   WOODS. 

perish.  A  small  outlay  in  draining,  if  judiciously 
expended,  would,  in  most  cases,  prevent  these 
effects,  and  as  it  would  only  require  to  be  done 
once  in  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  it  could  not  lay 
more  than  a  trifling  charge  upon  the  land. 

Pruning  is  also  a  very  necessary  operation  in 
Ancient  Woods,  both  of  the  oak  and  of  the  under- 
wood.    I  shall  not  here  enter  upon  an  inquiry  into 
the  general  question  ofpru?iing,  hut,  continuing  to 
treat  my  subject  practically,  venture  to  remark, 
that,  as  our  woods  are  now  circumstanced,  prun- 
ing, of  some  kind  or  other,  is,  as  far  as  the  oak  is 
concerned,  quite  indispensable.    Whether  it  should 
be  by  fore-shortening,  close  pruning,  or  some  other 
method,  must  be  determined  upon  an  examination 
taken,  but  I  do  not  hesitate  to  express  my  belief, 
that  the  pruning  of  oak  trees  in  woods,  may  be 
almost  wholly  dispensed  with,   after  the  few  first 
years,  if  they  are  well  trained  from  the  beginning  ; 
but  that  being  the  case  with  very  few,  pruning 
must  be  resorted  to.     And  as  to  the  underwood, 
the  question  has  still  less  difficulty  in  it.     When 
a  wood  is  well  stocked  with  underwood  of  the  right 
sort,  the  object  to  be  aimed  at  by  the  woodman 


ANCIENT   WOODS.  41 

is  to  bring  it  to  maturity  as  soon  as  possible,  and 
one  means  which  he  possesses,  if  he  will  make  use 
of  it,  is  pruning ;  which  he  should  commence, 
after  one  year's  growth,  and  occasionally  repeat — 
say  on  the  fourth  and  sixth  years,  allowing  the 
intervals  to  pass  without  interfering  with  it.  If 
this  operation  be  performed  as  it  ought  to  be,  the 
stools  will  have  a  number  of  poles  proportioned  to 
their  size  and  capacity  of  supporting  them,  and 
the  poles  themselves  will  not  only  be  more  of  an 
uniform  size,  but  they  will  be  much  straighter,  and 
on  every  account  better  adapted  to  the  use  for 
which  they  may  be  intended.  But  if  a  wood  be 
stocked  with  nothing  but  rubbish,  such  as  hazel, 
birch,  alder,  &c.  it  will  not  be  worth  pruning,  and 
the  best  course  to  take  with  it,  would  be  to  stub  it 
up,  and  get  rid  of  it  altogether. 

Finally,  on  this  point,  and  more  particularly 
with  reference  to  timber,  if  the  pruning  be  judi- 
ciously done,  it  will  tend  greatly  to  improve  the 
health  of  the  wood,  but  the  indiscriminate  use  of 
the  pruning  knife  might  do  much  harm,  it  should, 
therefore,  only  be  done  under  the  most  careful 
direction. 


42  ANCIENT   WOODS. 

Stubbing  up  rubbish,  such  as  thorns,  briers, 
birch,  and,  in  many  places,  hazel,  is  much  to  be 
recommended,  as  by  this  means,  light  and  air  will 
be  admitted  more  freely,  and  the  health  of  the 
wood  promoted,  and,  of  course,  its  growth  facili- 
tated. It  is  perhaps  just  possible,  that  there  may 
be  a  few  cases  where  the  demand  may  be  such 
for  birch,  hazel,  or  alder,  as  to  warrant  a  woodman 
in  keeping  them  as  a  part  of  his  stock ;  but  I  have 
generally  found,  upon  inquiry,  that  they  have 
fetched  such  a  miserable  price,  as  to  yield  very 
little  more  than  would  pay  expences. 

The  absolute  necessity  of  filling  up  with  young 
plants  must  be  universally  admitted,  although  in 
practice,  it  is  very  rarely  done,  or,  if  done  at  all, 
it  is  very  generally  so  ill  done,  as  to  produce  no 
perceptible  improvement  in  the  stock. 

It  too  often  happens  that  sufficient  care  is  not 
bestowed  in  selecting  the  plants.  They  are  fre- 
quently put  in  too  small,  and  when  they  are  long 
enough,  they  are  often  deficient  in  thickness.  All 
plants  put  into  old  woods,  should  be  of  good  size, 
stiff,  and  well  rooted.  Again :  it  will  be  admitted, 
that  they  are  often  planted  in  a  most  slovenly 


ANCIENT   WOODS.  43 

and  careless  manner. — The  following  is  a  specimen, 
of  what  I   have  seen.      The  workman  takes  his 
spade,  and  inserts  it  in  the  ground  as  far  as  it  will 
go,  in  a  sloping  direction ;  he  then  raises  it  to  a 
perpendicular  position ,  which,  of  course,  produces 
a  "nick,"  into  which  he  thrusts  the  plant,  and 
having  put  his  heavy  foot  upon  it,  there  and  thus, 
he  leaves  it  to  its  fate,  and  pursues  his  ill-directed 
labour,  without  a  gleam  of  light  breaking  in  upon 
him,  as  to  the  possibility  of  his  being  more  use- 
fully  employed,    or   doing   his   work   in   a   more 
effective  manner !     In  this  way,  or  in  some  such 
way  as  this,  thousands  of  acres  of  Ancient  Woods 
are  treated  every  year;  but  it  must  be  clear  to 
every  one,  that  such  a  -practice  is  a  disgrace  to 
those  who  pursue  it.     If  the  workmen  are  asked 
their  opinion  of  it,  they  will,  in  most  cases,  assure 
you,  that  the  plants  will    "all  grow"   but   the 
misfortune   is,   that  experience  is   against  them. 
Both  theory  and  practice  are  directly  opposed  to 
their  view.      But  independently  of  facts,   which 
every  where  condemn  such  methods,  no  one  ac- 
quainted with  the  rudiments  of  the  subject,  needs 
to  be  told,  that  it  is  utterly  unlikely  that  either 


44  ANCIENT   WOODS. 

an  oak  or  an  ash  plant  should  grow,  under  the 
manifest  disadvantages  in  which  it  is  placed,  when 
its  roots  are  thus  jumbled  together,  and  forced  into 
a  "nick"  fit  only  for  a  willow  set;  and  when, 
moreover,  it  has  to  commence  its  course  in  com- 
petition with  other  underwood,  which  has  already 
possession  of  the  ground.  It  is  absurd  to  suppose 
that  it  should  succeed. 

I  do  not  presume  to  say  that  some  woods  do 
not  receive  different  treatment,  in  all  respects,  to 
that  which  I  have  denounced :  that  would  not  be 
true ;  but  these  are  the  exceptions,  and  even 
where  the  management  is  best,  there  is  much  to 
complain  of. 

In  commencing  the  subject  of  Planting,  I  am 
impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  importance  which 
should  be  attached  to  it  in  such  a  work  as  this. 
I  mean  planting  by  way  of  filling  up,  in  Ancient 
Woods.  I  am  quite  aware  that  it  demands  such 
a  largeness  and  comprehension  of  view,  that  it 
might  well  be  supposed  likely  to  discourage  one 
of  stouter  nerves  than  mine.  It  is  important 
because,  first,  every  wood  in  the  kingdom  ought 
to  be  well  planted,  whether  it  is  or  not :  It  is  so, 


ANCIENT   WOODS.  45 

secondly,    because   there   are  very   few   that   are 
properly  planted. 

As  I  have  stated  before,  the  infancy  of  a 
wood,  or  plantation,  is  the  only  time  when  it  can- 
not be  expected  to  pay.  After  it  has  arrived  at  a 
certain  age,  say  from  fifteen  to  twenty  years,  it 
ought  to  begin  to  make  some  return.  In  woods, 
if  they  are  properly  planted,  it  will  necessarily  be 
small  during  the  first  two  cycles  of  twenty  years 
each.  '  It  must  be  observed,  that  I  am  here 
speaking  of  the  first  forty  years  of  an  Ancient 
Wood,  supposing  it  to  have  been  thoroughly  pur* 
ged  of  its  rubbish,  retaining  all  the  valuable  stock, 
and  to  have  been  re-planted.  The  return  must 
be  small,  because  the  oaks  will  have  been  planted 
thickly,  in  order  that  they  may  acquire  great 
length  of  bole :  and  this  being  the  case,  whatever 
underwood  may  have  been  put  in,  it  will  be  treated 
with  direct  reference  to  the  health  and  prosperity 
of  the  entire  class  of  timber  trees.  After  the 
expiration  of  the  first  cycle,  that  portion  of  the 
stuff  put  in  for  underwood  will  be  cut  over,  and 
such  pruning  of  the  oak  as  may  be  required 
(which  will  be  very  slight)  will  be  done,  care 


46  ANCIENT   WOODS. 

being  taken  never  to  lose  sight  of  the  principle  of 
classification  of  the  oaks,  into  certain  families  of 
larger  or  smaller  size,  according  to  the  term  which 
a  skilful  woodman  will  allot  for  their  entire  exist- 
ence. This  is  of  immense  consequence,  and  will 
embrace  calculations,  and  a  knowledge  of  the 
habits  of  trees,  which  can  only  be  acquired  by 
"  close  observation  and  long  experience."  Where 
a  sufficient  number  of  oaks  have  been  introduced, 
the  underwood  will  yield  very  little  return  per 
acre,  even  at  the  end  of  the  second  cycle  ;  but  if 
the  wood  has  been  well  managed,  it  will  have 
been  kept  alive  and  tolerably  healthy ;  and  when 
it  is  cut,  at  the  end  of  forty  years,  a  considerable 
number  of  oaks  of  a  useful  size  for  farmers,  wheel- 
wrights, &c.  will  be  taken  down :  this  will  admit 
light  and  air,  and  in  a  slight  degree,  perhaps, 
improve  the  position  of  the  underwood  during  the 
course  of  the  third  cycle. 

I  need  not  pursue  the  subject  farther  here,  hav- 
ing, I  trust,  succeeded  in  opening  to  the  reader  a 
general  view  of  the  plan  which  should  be  pursued. 
But  there  are  other  woods  where  a  larger  portion, 
both  of  oak  and  of  underwood,  will  be  found,  and 


ANCIENT   WOODS.  47 

where,  consequently,  it  will  be  more  the  object  of 
the  woodman  to  improve  by  less  extensive  mea- 
sures than  would  be  adopted  in  such  a  case  as  the 
one  just  referred  to.  It  will  mostly  be  best  to 
do  this  by  pruning,  stubbing,  and  planting — always 
supposing  that  an  effectual  drainage  has  been 
secured — and  here  I  would  remark,  that  whenever 
planting  is  done  in  a  wood,  it  should  be  as  well 
done  as  circumstances  will  possibly  allow.  Instead 
of  the  "nick"  system,  or  any  similar  plan,  the 
woodman  should  dig  holes  for  the  underwood  in 
the  Autumn,  and  plant  in  February,  or  early  in 
March.  For  oak,  he  should  dig  a  larger  hole,  in 
the  Autumn,  give  it  a  Summer  fallow,  and  put 
in  a  vigorous,  stiff  plant,  the  Autumn  following, 
or  in  the  February  next  but  one.  If  some  such 
plan  as  this  were  pursued,  there  is  not  much  fear 
but  the  plants  would  grow,  and  in  this  way  woods 
may  be  gradually  brought  into  a  prosperous  state, 
instead  of  their  being,  as  they  now  are,  in  the 
agregate,  a  comparatively  valueless  property  to 
their  owners. 

I  may  here  illustrate  my  view  by  a  reference 
to  a  particular  case,  which  came  under  my  pro- 


48  ANCIENT   WOODS. 

fessional  notice.     It  was  a  wood  held  on  lease  by 
a  gentleman,   under   an    ecclesiastical   body,   the 
lease  being  for  a  certain  number  of  years,  renew^ 
able  upon  the  payment  of  a  fine  every  seven  years. 
Some  dissatisfaction  was  felt  by  the  lessee  at  the 
amount  of  the  fines  demanded,  and  the  lease  was 
permitted  to  lapse,  at    which   time    the  intrinsic 
value  of  the  stock,  whether  of  timber  or  under- 
wood, was  literally  nothing.      The  oak  was  all 
gone,  as  it  was  quite  natural  that,  with  a  lease  so 
framed,  it  should  be,  and  the  underwood,  instead 
of  being  usefully  and  beneficially  occupying  the 
ground,  of  which  it  then  had  en  fire  possession,  was 
not  worth  the  trouble  of  cutting !     How  different 
would  have  been  the  position  of  the  lessors  in  this 
instance,   I  need  not  say,  if,  during  the  two  last 
cycles,  when  the  oaks  were  becoming  very  thinly 
scattered,  the  underwood  had  been  cherished,  as 
it  most  undoubtedly  ought  to  have  been.     The 
neighbourhood  was  one  where  there  was  plenty  of 
demand  for  the  produce  of  woods  ;  the  particular 
wood  referred  to,  would  have  been,  on  every  ac- 
count, as  good   a   cover,  and   all    parties  would 


ANCIENT    WOODS.  49 

have  been  alike  interested  in  the  continuance  of 
the  lease. 

But  as  I  must  now  very  shortly  bring  such 
of  my  "  Remarks"  as  refer  to  "Ancient  Woods," 
to  a  close,  it  may  be  as  well  just  to  run  over  the 
whole  subject  in  a  recapitulary  form,  so  as  to 
present  it  to  the  reader  in  a  sort  of  bird's-eye 
view. 

I  have,  then,  endeavoured  to  show,  that  the 
present  state  of  the  Ancient  Woods  of  this  king- 
dom is  very  far  from  what  it  ought  to  be,  and 
fully  proves  that  their  owners  have  paid  little 
attention  to  them :  that  they  are  almost  valueless 
to  them,  simply  and  only  for  want  of  better  man- 
agement :  that  they  are  capable  of  such  a  degree 
of  improvement  as  would  insure  from  them  a  fair, 
reasonable  return :  I  have  endeavoured  to  show 
this  by  contrasting  the  plans  of  woodmen,  if  they 
can  be  said  to  have  any,  with  those  which,  in  my 
judgment,  ought  to  be  pursued ;  and  I  am  not 
aware  that  I  have,  upon  any  one  point,  exposed 
the  errors  of  their  course,  without  suggesting  that 
which  I  conceive  would  be  the  right  one.  It  is 
quite  impossible,  however,  to  lay  down  in  a  book 


50  ANCIENT   WOODS. 

like  this,  or  in  any  other,  specific  rules  or  direc- 
tions which  shall  constitute  a  sufficient  guide  for 
the  manager  of  woods,  out  of  the  difficulties  of  a 
false  position,  or  enable  him  to  reform  the  errors 
of  a  vicious  practice  :  for,  first,  not  one  woodman 
in  fifty  would   he  convinced,   hy  any  process  of 
reasoning,   that   the  present  state  of  woods  is   so 
bad  as  I  have  described  it  to  be ;    and  if  they 
would  not  admit  the  existence  of  the  evil,  they 
would  not  be  likely  to  perceive  the  value  of  any 
remedial  measures  that  might  be  recommended. 
Next :  a  difficulty  would  every  where  present  it- 
self, if  woods  were  improperly  treated,   from  the 
woodman  feeling  that  the  introduction  of  any  new 
plans  would,  necessarily,  involve  the  condemnation 
of  his  own.     Besides  all  this,  as  I  have  remarked 
before,  so  many  things  have  to  be  considered  as  to 
the  state  of  a  wood,  before  a  safe  opinion  could  be 
given  as  to  the  best  course  to  be  taken  with  it, 
that  nothing  less  than  a  minute  examination,  af- 
fording the  opportunity  of  duly  weighing  all  the 
circumstances  of  each  particular  case,  would  jus- 
tify any  man  in  suggesting  a  specific  course. 


ANCIENT   WOODS.  51 

In  proof  of  this,  I  would  offer  the  example  of 
a  wood  which  I  will  suppose  to  be  of  forty  years 
standing,  and  to  have  been  started  with  as  many 
oak  plants  as  would  suffice  to  insure  a  sufficient 
number  of  timber  trees,  possessing  ample  length 
of  bole,  or  stem.  Upon  the  plan  of  management 
which  I  have  suggested,  there  would  be,  at  the 
second  cutting  of  the  under  wood,  a  certain  num- 
ber of  oaks  to  cut  out  also,  and  from  the  stools 
of  these,  there  would  start  young  shoots,  which, 
if  properly  dealt  with,  would,  with  those  which 
would  spring  from  every  subsequent  cutting,  fur- 
nish a  succession  of  timber  trees ;  but  if  no  care 
were  taken  in  nursing  them,  the  probability  is, 
that  they  would  be  unfit  for  timber,  and  that  it 
would  therefore  be  necessary,  occasionally,  to  in- 
troduce a  small  number  of  maiden  plants,  even  as 
early  as  the  expiration  of  the  second  cycle. 


' 


CHAP.   II. 

PLANTATIONS 


IN  order  to  afford  some  facility  to  the  reader 
in  perusing  what  I  may  write,  I  shall  divide  what 
I  have  to  say  into  several  distinct  heads;  and, 
first,  as  to  the 

present  jjiltolrcs  of  planting. 

Much  may,  and  prohably  ought,  to  be  said, 
on  the  errors  of  bad  planters :  it  is  indeed  a  pro- 
lific, as  well  as  an  important  subject;  and  if  there 
were  any  solid  ground  on  which  to  rest  a  hope 
that  an  exposure  of  all  the  mistakes  which  are 
made  in  planting,  would  lead  to  the  abandonment 
of  such  plans  and  practices  as  would  be  shown  to 
be  wrong,  it  would  be  a  duty  worthy  the  exercise 
of  talents  of  the  highest  order.  It  does  not,  how- 
H 


54  PLANTATIONS. 

ever,  absolutely  require  the  aid  of  brilliant  talent, 
or  fervid  eloquence,  to  place  these  matters  in  their 
proper  light  before  those  who  are  most  concerned ; 
a  plain  reference  to  facts  will  be  quite  sufficient 
for  that  purpose. 

The  case  of  an  Ancient  Wood  in  an  unthrifty 
and  unprofitable  condition,  does  not  stand  out  so 
prominently — it  is  not  so  glaringly  discreditable 
to  its  owner,  as  is  a  Plantation  in  the  same  state, 
which  has  been  made  by  himself ;  for  as  to  the 
former,  the  fact  that  "i£  always  was  so,"  is,  to  a 
certain  extent,  an  excuse  for  bad  management ; 
and  in  truth,  it  will  generally  be  found  a  very  dif- 
ficult affair,  as  I  have  hinted  before,  to  establish 
a  new  system  where  the  prejudice  of  ages,  in 
favour  of  an  old  one,  will  meet  the  person  who 
may  attempt  it,  at  every  turn  ;  but  it  is  not  so 
as  to  Plantations ;  when,  therefore,  a  gentleman 
decides  to  plant,  and  has  himself  to  do  with  the 
work  from  the  beginning,  both  his  interest,  and 
his  duty,  point  out  the  necessity  of  his  seeing  that 
it  be  well  done ;  but  the  very  reverse  of  this,  is 
the  average  of  the  general  practice,  as  I  shall 
presently  show.  It  would  be  quite  foreign  to  my 


PLANTATIONS.  55 

purpose,  to  refer  to  the  minor  shades  of  difference 
which  exist  in  the  practice  of  planters :  such  dif- 
ference indeed  may  be  met  with,  between  plans 
which  are  each  in  themselves  excellent ;  I  shall 
content  myself,  therefore,  with  referring,  and  that 
in  general  terms,  to  the  most  glaring  mistakes 
which  are  committed,  giving  a  few  examples. 

To  an  eye  that  can  take  in  the  whole,  it  is 
lamentable  to  see  the  effects  of  ignorance  and 
neglect,  in  the  original  formation,  as  well  as  in 
the  subsequent  treatment,  of  Plantations!  With 
many,  it  seems  to  be  expected  that  they  will 
thrive  and  prosper,  no  matter  how  they  may  be 
put  in,  whereas  the  very  contrary  is  the  fact. 
With  many  planters  there  is  a  vague,  indefinite 
notion — of  course  there  is  no  calculation — that 
when  once  they  are  planted,  trees  will  grow,  not 
only  without  labour  or  culture,  but  under  such 
adverse  circumstances  as  at  once  convince  the 
experienced  planter  of  the  utter  impossibility  of 
their  doing  so.  As  I  have  elsewhere  said,  a  young 
child,  a  young  animal,  and  a  young  tree,  all  require 
the  greatest  possible  attention,  and  the  tenderest 
treatment ;  aud  the  blighting  effects  which  must 


56  PLANTATIONS. 

result,  and  which  do  result,  from  the  absence  of 
early  attention,  are  to  be  seen  quite  as  strongly 
marked  in  the  last,  as  in  the  other  two. 

In  numerous  instances — and  this  I  shall  call 
mistake  the  first — the  trees  are  put  in  without 
any  previous  preparation  of  the  soil.  It  is  not 
possible,  in  the  ordinary  run  of  cases,  to  commit 
a  greater  error  than  this.  It  is,  emphatically,  to 
build  upon  a  bad  foundation,  and  it  is  very  rarely 
indeed  that  Plantations,  so  commenced,  ever  make 
any  thing  out.  When  I  say  this,  I  do  not  mean 
to  assert  that  they  never  become  trees  of  any  size : 
unfortunately  they  do,  in  some  situations,  and  men 
are  so  ignorant — there  is  so  little  real  scientific 
knowledge  of  the  subject  to  be  met  with  any- 
where— that  the  most  erroneous  conclusions  are 
drawn  from  this  fact.  The  question  as  to  what  a 
Plantation  might  have  done,  or  what  it  ivould 

have  done,  if  it  had  been  properly  treated,  is  never 

• 
thought  of!     No  one  ever  dreams  of  instituting  a 

comparison  between  such  a  Plantation  as  it  is, 
and  as  it  ought  to  have  been.  And  yet  this  is  the 
very  first  question  which  should  be  asked,  or 
rather  which  should  be  anticipated. 


PLANTATIONS.  57 

But  the  majority  of  Plantations,  which  are 
commenced  without  any  preparation  of  the  soil,  are 
complete  failures,  as  may  be  seen  by  any  one  who 
chooses  to  take  the  trouble  to  examine  for  himself. 
Influenced  by  a  most  mistaken  notion  of 
economy,  many  persons  plant  their  trees  on  land 
which  is  already  rally  occupied — it  may  be,  by  ling, 
by  bracken,  or  by  long  grass,  or  twitch — and  in 
most  cases  of  this  sort,  the  greater  number  die ; 
but  there  may  probably  remain  a  few  which  sustain 
a  feeble  existence,  so  as  just  to  make  a  show  of 
a  Plantation,  and  the  owner  seldom  gives  himself 
the  trouble  to  attempt  to  ascertain  why  it  is  no 
better.  The  method  usually  adopted,  when  plant- 
ing is  done  in  this  way,  is,  to  dig  small  holes  at 
fixed  distances,  into  which  the  plants  are  put  by 
the  workman  in  the  best  manner  that  he  can,  and 
they  are  left  to  fight  their  way  as  best  they  may. 

Mr.  Withers,  of  Holt,  in  Norfolk,  has  ably, 
and  indignantly,  denounced  the  hole-digging  sys- 
tem, and  has  shown,  most  clearly,  the  advantage 
of  "the  highest  degree  of  culture"  for  raising 
timber,  whether  as  a  pecuniary  question,  or  where 
it  is  wanted  for  merely  ornamental  purposes.  It 


58  PLANTATIONS. 

is  true  that  an  opinion  at  variance  with  his,  has 
been  given  by  some,  but  every  practical  man  will, 
at  once,  perceive  where  the  truth  lies;  nor  will 
he  be  at  any  loss,  whether,  in  the  preparation  of 
a  field  for  planting,  to  follow  the  directions  of  Sir 
Henry  Steuart,  or  those  of  Mr.  Withers. 

It  was  the  practice  of  the  latter  gentleman,  to 
trench  his  ground  from  "  fourteen  to  eighteen  in- 
ches deep,"  and  on  poor  land,  to  "put  on  as  much 
manure  as  if  turnips  were  intended  to  be  sown," 
and  to  hoe  and  keep  clean  the  land,  for  seven 
years  after  planting.  The  results  were,  extra- 
ordinary rapidity  of  growth,  and  a  consequent 
early  and  ample  return  upon  the  capital  invested, 
in  addition  to  the  full  accomplishment  of  an  object, 
which  is,  of  course,  ardently  desired  by  every 
planter :  viz.:  the  pleasure  of  seeing  rapidly  rise 
up  before  him,  a  healthy  and  most  promising  race 
of  trees. 

The  second  mistake  which  I  shall  notice  is  a 
very  common  one ;  and  is  committed  by  those 
who  prepare  the  land  well,  but,  by  a  bad  selection 
of  plants,  either  as  to  age,  or  kind,  or  both,  render 
success  impossible.  The  error  as  to  age  consists, 


PLANTATIONS.  59 

most  frequently,  in  their  being  too  old:  that  as  to 
the  kind,  in  not  choosing  such  as  are  adapted  to 
the  nature  of  the  soil. 

A  third  class  of  planters  may  he  met  with, 
who,  to  a  certain  extent,  avoid  all  the  mistakes 
previously  referred  to,  but  who  commit  the  un- 
accountable blunder  of  throwing  the  various  kinds 
promiscuously  together,  without  any  regard  to 
congeniality  as  to  the  plants;  and  in  this  case, 
the  trees  that  are  really  valuable  are  overtopped, 
and  mastered  by  a  set  of  worthless  trash,  which, 
when  full  grown,  are  hardly  worth  the  trouble  of 
cutting  down.  When  a  Plantation  is  made  in  this 
barbarous  manner,  and  left  in  this  state  for  twenty 
years,  or  even  less,  no  subsequent  efforts,  however 
sound  the  judgment  which  is  exercised  may  be, 
can  wholly  repair  the  mischief  which  is  "Hone.  By 
this  mistake,  an  immense  loss  of  property  accrues 
to  the  proprietor,  and  the  worst  of  all  is,  that  the 
trite  consolation  is  not  left  him,  that  what  is  "his 
loss,  is  another's  gain,"  for  here  nobody  is  bene- 
fitted ;  while  to  himself  there  is  superadded  the 
mortification  of  a  loss  of  time,  "which  no  man 
can  restore." 


60  PLANTATIONS. 

That  the  strong  language  which  I  have  here 
employed  is  fully  justified,  will  at  once  he  admit- 
ted hy  every  reflecting  person,  who  has  any 
acquaintance  with  these  matters ;  for  it  will  ap- 
pear at  the  outset,  that  if  a  slow-growing  tree  is 
planted  close  to  one  which  will  grow  half  as  fast 
again,  and  if  the  slow  grower  is  the  tree  intended 
for  timber,  the  latter  must  inevitably  be  so  much 
damaged  as  to  affect  its  health  for  ever,  if  some- 
thing he  not  done  to  relieve  it. 

I  shall  not,  in  this  place,  "remark"  more 
particularly  on  this  point,  than  to  say,  that  I  have 
often  seen  the  oak  in  this  relative  position,  with 
the  alder,  the  birch,  the  poplar,  the  larch,  and 
other  trees. 

To  imagine  that  a  comparatively  slow-grow- 
ing tree  can  be  placed  in  near  contiguity  with 
another  whose  rate  of  progress  is  much  quicker, 
without  receiving  injury,  is  to  manifest  a  want 
of  knowledge  of  the  habits  of  trees,  which  may  be 
excused  in  an  amateur  planter,  but  which  cannot 
be  overlooked  in  a  practical  man,  who  is  well 
paid  for  his  services. 


PLANTATIONS.  61 

A  fourth  error  which  is  committed,  is  one 
upon  which  I  have  slightly  touched  already,  and 
refers  to  the  question  of  adaptation  of  the  kind  of 
tree  planted,  first,  to  the  nature  of  the  soil  planted 
upon,  and  next,  if  the  object  of  the  planter  be 
profit,  to  the  local  demand. 

Most  serious  mistakes  have  heen  committed 
upon  hoth  these  points,  even  hy  men  whose  wri- 
tings have  procured  them  a  niche  in  the  Temple 
of  Fame.  Under  this  head  a  few  cases  will  now 
be  referred  to. 

It  is  impossible,  at  this  distance  of  time,  to  fix 
the  exact  amount  of  blame,  or  responsibility,  which 
of  right  attaches  itself  to  the  name  of  Pontey,  for 
instance,  who  planted  an  immense  tract  of  land 
near  Lincoln,  belonging  to  that  splendid  charity, 
Christ's  Hospital:  tradition,  which,  however,  may 
do  him  injustice,  accuses  him  of  having  con- 
tracted to  plant  with  Larch  and  Oak,  and 
having,  on  some  pretence  or  other,  substituted 
Scotch  Fir. 

Whatever  was  the  precise  f  mount  of  respon- 
sibility attaching  to  him,  I  know  not*;  he  might 

be  following  out  the  letter  of  his  instructions,  for 
1 


62  PLANTATIONS. 

ought  that  I  can  tell,  but  it  is  quite  certain  that, 
even  with  the  then  imperfect  knowledge  which 
was  possessed  of  the  value  of  larch,  a  very  great 
mistake  was  committed,  in  planting  nearly  a 
thousand  acres  of  land,,  which  was  well  adapted 
both  for  oak  and  larch,  with  profitless  rubbish  like 
that  which  is  now  seen  upon  it.  A  work  of  that 
magnitude  ought  not  to  have  been  intrusted  to  any 
one  who,  either  from  mercenary  motives,  or  from 
limited  views,  was  capable  of  falling  into  such  a 
gross  error,  as  to  the  interests  of  his  employers. 
It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say,  that  if  the  Skelling- 
thorpe  Plantation  had  been  planted,  as  it  ought  to 
have  been,  with  oak  and  larch,  together  with  a 
few  spruce  firs,  and  if  Pontey  had  left  suitable 
instructions  with  those  who  had  to  take  care  of  it, 
after  his  superintendence  had  ceased,  it  would 
now  have  been,  at  the  most  moderate  compu- 
tation, fifteen  hundred  per  cent,  more  valuable 
than  it  is! 

If  it  were  private  property,  I  should  not  pre- 
sume to  add  what  I  now  feel  myself  at  perfect 
liberty  to  do,  with  reference  to  its  present  con- 
dition, and  the  future  prospect  respecting  it. 


PLANTATIONS.  63 

It  is  at  present,  almost  universally,  a  Scotch, 
Fir  Plantation:  these  are  of  a  most  miserable 
size,  compared  with  what  they  might  have  been, 
under  good  management,  and  they  are  withal  very 
coarse.  There  may  be  seen  amongst  them,  just 
Larches  enough  to  perpetuate  the  folly  of  the 
original  planter;  and  to  excite,  at  his  periodical 
sales,  the  keen  regret  of  the  present  Steward,  that 
he  has  not  more  of  them  to  sell.  There  are  also 
a  few  oaks,  of  such  quality  as  fully  to  prove  that 
they  would  have  thriven  well — had  they  been 
planted.  Further:  the  Scotch  firs  are  so  thick, 
and  they  are  feathered  down  so  low,  that  the 
Plantation  is  not  healthy.  It  is  true  that,  under 
the  present  much  improved  management,  an  at- 
tempt is  being  made  to  remedy  this  evil,  and  it  is 
quite  clear,  that  the  condition  of  the  trees  will 
gradually  be  bettered,  but  the  misfortune  is — and 
here  I  come  to  speak  of  the  prospects  of  the 
Plantation — that  they  are  not  worth  culture.  I 
have  no  hesitation  in  stating  this  to  be  my  deli- 
berate opinion.  The  timber,  if  timber  it  can  be 
called,  is  worth  almost  nothing  now,  and,  in  such 
a  locality,  I  can  see  no  probability  of  its  ever 


61  PLANTATIONS. 

realizing,  so  as  to  justify  those  in  whose  care  it  is 
placed,  in  continuing  it  as  it  is.  The  plain  and 
obvious  course  of  the  managers  of  this  fine  estate, 
then,  is  to  stub  up  the  Scotch  fir,  and  replant  the 
land  with  oak  and  larch. 

In  further  proof  of  the  propriety  of  this  opinion, 
I  would  remark  that,  in  this  locality,  both  oak 
and  larch  fetch  very  high  prices,  and  there  are 
probable  grounds  for  expecting  that  they  always 
will  do  so  ;  while,  if  the  present  race  of  Scotch  firs 
should  stand  as  long  again  as  they  have  already 
stood,  they  will  make  comparatively  little. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that  if  this  Plant- 
ation were  the  property  of  a  private  gentleman, 
the  Scotch  firs  would  be  extirpated  as  speedily  as 
possible,  and  a  systematic  plan,  providing  that  a 
certain  number  of  acres  should  be  stubbed  and 
re-planted  every  year,  would  at  once  be  laid  down ; 
but  public  bodies  are  not  so  easily  moved,  and  it 
is  therefore  to  be  feared,  that,  in  this  case,  the 
public  will  not,  for  some  time  to  come,  derive  that 
benefit  from  the  property,  which  would  certainly 
be  the  result  of  proper  management. 


HPLANTATIONS.  65 

The  whole  might  be  re-stocked  with  suitable 
kinds  of  trees,  without  any  considerable  outlay  to 
the  hospital,  if  arrangements  were  made  with  a 
party  capable  of  carrying  out  some  such  compre- 
hensive plan  as  the  following ;  viz.:  An  agreement 
with  a  responsible  person,  carefully  worded,  pro- 
viding that  he  should  stub,  or  grub  up,  a  stipulated 
number  of  acres  at  the  commencement  of  a  sort 
of  lease,  taking  the  stuff,  either  in  part  payment, 
or  wholly,  if  it  were  sufficient:  and  that  he  should, 
on  such  terms  as  could  be  agreed  upon,  continue 
to  grub  up,  and  plant,  a  specified  number  of  acres 
every  succeeding  year. 

In  twelve  years,  if  the  work  were  well  done, 
there  would  be  some  return  from  the  thinnings  of 
the  piece  first  planted  ;  and  the  rate  of  return  and 
profit,  would,  from  that  time,  continue  to  increase 
every  year,  until  an  amount  would  be  realized 
which  would  much  more  than  equal  the  largest 
expectations  of  the  Governors. 

I  shall  only  mention  one  case  more,  as  to  the 
want  of  adaptation  of  the  kind  of  tree  to  the  soil, 
and  to  the  local  demand,  and  that  is  a  wood  belong- 
ing to  the  Right  Honourable  Lord  Middle  ton,  at 


66  PLANTATIONS. 

Stapleford,  near  Newark,  and  which,  some  years 
ago,  consisted  almost  entirely  of  Scotch  fir.     It  is 
now  of  an  age  and  size  that  enables  me  to  cite  it  in 
proof  of  the  opinion  which  I  have  given,  relative  to 
the  prospect  for  the  Skellingthorpe  Plantation.  The 
timher  has  arrived  at  a  good  marketable  size,  and 
is  sold  at  as  high  a  rate  as  there  is  any  reason  to 
suppose   would   he    made    of    the    Skellingthorpe 
Scotch,  when  it  shall  have  reached  to  the  same 
size.     That  price  is  apparently  moderate,  but  it 
is  so  inferior  in  quality,  or,  perhaps,   it  is  more 
correct  to  say,  such  a  bad  opinion  is  formed  of  it, 
by  most  people,    that   when  it  is   converted  into 
boards  or  scantling,  the  price  it  fetches  is  so  low 
as  to  hold  out  little  inducement  to  Timber  mer- 
chants to  purchase  it.      And  as  to  the  grower, 
I  am  persuaded  that,  if  simple  interest  upon  the 
original  investment    were    to    be    calculated,    up 
to  the  time   when  the  wood  first  began  to  clear 
its  own  expences,  and  added  to  the  first  cost,  it 
would  not  be  found  that   there  is  much  surplus 
over  the  necessary  expences  of  management.     At 
all  events  it  would  be  seen  there,  as  well  as  at 
Skellingthorpe,    from   the   little   Larch    and   Oak 


PLANTATIONS.  67 

which  they  have  had  to  sell,  that  the  returns  are 
comparatively  small  to  what  they  would  have  been, 
if  Larch  had  first  heen  planted  along  with  Oak. 
This  large  Plantation  will,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
years,  under  the  present  enlightened  and  skilful 
management,  to  a  great  extent,  he  cleared  of  the 
Scotch  firs ;  in  place  of  which,  the  noble  propri- 
etor will  have  a  race  of  fine  oaks^  thus  proving,  to 
actual  demonstration,  the  great  mistake  which  was 
originally  committed,  in  occupying  the  land  with 
a  class  of  trees  which,  when  they  have  arrived  at 
maturity,  are  of  comparatively  little  value. 

I  pass  on  to  remark  upon  a  fifth  error.  One 
gentleman  will,  from  motives  of  economy,  stick  in 
the  plants  with  as  little  labour  as  possible :  another 
will  aim  at  the  same  result,  by  putting  in  fewer, 
or  smaller  plants  than  he  ought  to  do.  Both  these, 
and  indeed  all  the  parties,  who  are  influenced  by 
the  same  narrow  and  shortsighted  views,  greatly 
err :  these  are  not  the  cheapest,  but  the  most 
expensive,  as  well  as  the  worst  adapted,  modes  of 
planting.  To  insure  a  healthy  and  vigorous  com* 
mencement  to  a  Plantation,  if  that  is  followed  up 
by  suitable  treatment  afterwards,  is  to  secure  both 


68  PLANTATIONS. 

rapid  progress,  and  early  maturity,  and  by  neces- 
sary consequence,  the  largest  possible  amount  of 
pecuniary  return. 

Lastly,  as  to  modes  of  planting,  and  without 
ranging  either  party  among  those  who  are  clearly 
and  decidedly  mistaken  in  their  views,  one  class 
of  persons  will  plant  thickly,  and  another  class  will 
plant  thinly ',  from  various  motives,  but  both  with- 
out paying  due  regard  to  the  capabilities,  and 
adaptation  of  the  soil,  and,  as  is  very  natural,  in 
the  absence  of  all  calculation,  both  are  frequently 
subjected  to  the  same  result, — either  a  partial  or 
complete  failure  of  their  expectations. 

It  is  neither  my  purpose,  nor  is  it  in  my 
power,  to  decide,  upon  paper,  what  is  the  best 
average  distance  at  which  the  trees  of  a  young 
Plantation  should  be  placed  from  each  other. 
Many  questions  ought  to  be  previously  asked,  as 
many  very  important  considerations  will  present 
themselves  to  the  mind  of  a  practical  man,  before 
he  will  decide. 

In  the  average  of  cases,  where  planting  for 
profit  is  the  object,  the  question  is  not  one  of 
much  practical  difficulty  ;  but  in  many  others, 


PLANTATIONS.  69 

the  primary  purpose,  or  the  ultimate  aim,  of  the 
planter — the  local  market — the  cost  of  plants,  &<r 
will  claim  very  special  attention. 

When  the  object  is  to  beautify  the  Landscape, 
or  to  produce  effect  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  a 
Mansion,  it  will  be  necessary  to  set  aside  ordinary 
rules,  and  to  depart  from  some  of  the  recognized 
principles  which  ought  always  to  govern,  in  plant- 
ing for  profit.  But  even  here,  nothing  should  be 
done,  nothing  should  be  attempted,  which  is  not 
in  strict  consistence  with  those  general  laws  which 
the  principles  of  vegetable  physiology  impose, 
alike  on  a  Gentleman  who  removes  a  large  tree 
upon  the  plan  recommended  by  Sir  Henry  Steuart, 
and  on  the  practical  Planter,  who  is  professionally 
employed  to  plant  a  large  tract  of  country. 

It  is  no  part  of  my  business  to  remark  upon 
the  merits  of  the  respective  plans  which  have 
been  tried  by  different  persons,  for  enriching  the 
scenery  of  a  Park  ;  but  I  have  no  difficulty  in 
saying  that,  where  it  is  well  understood  and  pro- 
perly carried  out,  the  combination  of  Sir  Henry's 
plan,  with  the  judicious  arrangement  of  small 
K 


70  PLANTATIONS. 

Plantations ;  putting  into  a  well  prepared  soil, 
good,  stout,  well-rooted,  and  vigorous  plants,  at  a 
considerable  distance,  will  best  effect  that  object. 
And  as  I  have  referred  to  Sir  Henry  Steuart's 
method  of  removing  large  trees,  it  will  not  be  out 
of  place  here  to  observe,  that  the  abuse  of  that 
plan  has  very  frequently  brought  it  into  disrepute, 
and  given  birth  to  the  conclusion,  that  it  was  not 
adapted  to  the  end  proposed  :  and  thus  blame  has 
fallen  on  the  ingenious,  skilful,  and  scientific 
Baronet,  instead  of  its  resting  on  the  heads  of 
those  whose  "mismanagement"  had  actually  in- 
vited the  failures  which  they  were  doomed  to 
suffer. 

Those  who  have  most  carefully  attended  to 
Sir  Henry's  instructions  in  removing  large  sub- 
jects, will  have  been  most  successful ;  and  while 
they  will  be  the  first  to  admit  that  the  plan  is  one 
of  very  considerable  difficulty,  and  requiring  the 
greatest  possible  amount  of  attention  ;  they  will 
be  the  most  powerful  and  decided  witnesses  in  its 
favour,  for  the  purposes  for  which  it  is  here 
recommended. 


PLANTATIONS.  71 

But  when  Plantations  on  a  large  scale  are  de- 
sired, and  when  the  planter  considers  his  posterity 
more  than  himself,  there  can  be  no  doubt  at  all, 
that,   on  certain  qualities  of  soil,   tolerably  thick 
planting  is  best.     And  if  it  be  desired  to  have  a 
race  of  fine  noble  Oaks,  they  must  be  put  in  very 
thick,  and  the  planter  must  not  expect,  during  a 
life  of  average  duration,  any  profit  at  all;  for,  in 
order  to  secure  his  object,  he  must,  first,  prepare 
the  ground  well:  and  next,  he  must  either  sow 
acorns,  or  he  must  put  in  an  immense  number  of 
plants — and,  in  either  case,  he  will  incur  a  heavy 
outlay     He  must,  for  the  first  seven  years,  keep 
the  ground  clean,  and  he  must  plant  along  with 
the  Oak,  a  selection  of  those  kinds  of  trees,  as 
nurses,  which  are  best  adapted  to  the  purpose,  and 
not  those  which  might  probably,  at  the  earliest 
period,  find  their  way  into  the  local  market,  and 
make  the  best  price  when  there ;  although  these 
points  should  not  be  left  out  of  consideration. 

But  now,  the  question  as  to  planting,  or  sow- 
ing, or,  if  the  former  be  preferred,  that  of.  the 
distance  of  the  plants,  being  settled,  the  next 


72  PLANTATIONS. 

which  presents  itself  is  this:  what  kinds  shall  be 
planted  as  the 


Nurses  for 


Here  again,  a  good  deal  will  depend  upon  the 
object  of  the  planter,  the  nature  of  the  soil,  and 
the  exact  arrangements  which  are  made  at  the 
time  of  planting  ;  for  it  might  be  quite  proper  to 
plant  a  species  of  Tree  in  one  place,  while, 
owing  to  a  difference  in  the  staple  or  the  con- 

dition  of  the  soil,  it  would  be  just   the   reverse 

< 

in  another. 

The  remarks  which  I  shall  have  to  make  on 
this  subject  have,  in  some  degree,  been  anticipated 
by  the  observations  which  I  have  already  made, 
respecting  the  Skellingthorpe  Plantation,  but  a 
more  particular  reference  to  a  few  well-known 
kinds,  may  not  be  amiss, 

I  begin  with  the  Larch  ,  which,  from  its  great 
value  to  Farmers  and  others,  is  fairly  entitled  to 
precedence. 

The  Larch  is  found,  in  greater  or  smaller  pro- 
portions, in  most  places  where  Plantations  are 


PLANTATIONS.  73 

made  ;  and  it  is  entirely  the  planter's  fault,  if  he 
be  not  well  acquainted  with  its  character,  as  a 
nurse  for  Oak.  I  say  this,  because  it  has  been 
so  extensively  tested,  and  its  habits  are  so  well 
known,  that  no  one,  having  the  slightest  wish  to 
become  acquainted  with  it,  can  have  failed  for 
want  of  opportunity. 

I  have  very  often  seen  the  Larch  where  it  has 
proved  an  exceedingly  bad  nurse ;  where,  in  fact, 
instead  of  nursing  the  Oaks,  it  has  destroyed 
them :  but  this  has,  of  course,  arisen  from  "  mis- 
management," and  might  have  been  avoided. 
When  good,  stiff,  healthy  Oak  Plants  are  put  in 
with  Larch  only,  or  but  with  very  few  of  any 
other  sort,  the  Larch  ought  not,  in  the  first 
place,  to  be  put  too  near — the  exact  distance 
can  only  be  determined  relatively  to  that  of  the 
Oaks — secondly :  an  advantage  should  be  given 

to  the  Oaks,  if  possible,  at  the  start ;  either  by 
assigning  them  a  portion  of  the  soil  from  the  land 

intended  for  the  Larch,  or  in  some  other  way  ; 
after  which,  if  the  latter  are  constantly  watched, 
they  will  approve  themselves  very  suitable  and 
valuable  nurses  ;  but  if  they  are  allowed,  as  they 


74  PLANTATIONS. 

too  generally  are,  to  take  the  lead  of  the  Oak, 
they  will  plentifully  avail  themselves  of  the  licence, 
to  the  serious  and,  perhaps,  irreparable  injury  of 
that  plant. 

For  large  Plantations,  intended  for  profit,  it 
may  be  questioned  whether,  in  the  first  instance, 
any  thing  else  than  Oak  and  Larch  should  be 
planted,  and  the  distance  must  be  decided  after 
due  consideration  is  given  to  the  quality  and 
condition  of  the  land. 

If,  however,  a  disposition  is  felt  to  plant  other 
kinds,  as  nurses,  there  can  be  no  objection,  pro- 
vided that  their  companionship  is  made  fully  to 
square  with  the  well-being  of  the  trees  intended 
for  timber. 

But  where  it  is  intended  to  introduce  nothing 
that  shall  not  act  as  a  good  nurse  for  the  Oak, 
exception  must  certainly  be  taken  to  the  Alder, 
the  Poplars,  the  Sycamore,  the  Horse  Chesnut, 
the  Birch,  and  the  Scotch  Fir,  &c.  Not  one  of 
these  discovers  any  congeniality  for  the  Oak,  nor 
any  fitness  for  the  office  of  nursing  it ;  and  it 
does  really  appear  to  my  mind,  as  most  unaccount- 
ably strange,  that  trees  of  all  sorts  should,  without 


PLANTATIONS.  75 

forethought,  or  calculation — and  most  particularly, 
that  no  reference  should  be  made  to  their  suit- 
ability or  adaptation  for  the  circumstances  in 
which  they  are  to  be  placed — be  planted  at  a 
greater  cost  than  would  have  sufficed  to  procure 
an  ample  number  of  the  right  sort. 

Upon  a  suitable  soil,  the  Spruce  Fir  has  always 
appeared  to  me,  to  be  decidedly  and  incomparably 
the  best  nurse  of  the  Oak.  I  have,  for  instance 
often  seen,  on  a  clay  soil,  a  Spruce  Fir,  and  an 
Oak  of  twenty-five  years  growth,  flourishing  ad- 
mirably, in  close  proximity  with  each  other — even 
within  a  foot  and  a  half.  I  do  not  think  that  this 
could  be  said  of  any  other  tree  than  the  Spruce 
Fir;  but  besides  this,  there  is  almost  always  a 
very  peculiar  healthiness  about  the  Oaks,  where 
the  Spruce  has  been  planted  and  cherished  as  the 
principal  nurse.  There  seems  to  be  the  best  pos- 
sible understanding  between  them — no  struggling 
for  pre-eminence — no  blighting  influence  exercised 
by  the  one  over  the  other.  But  the  Spruce  Fir  is 
not  found  to  flourish  so  well  on  some  soils  as  on 
others:  it  will  therefore,  mostly,  be  advisable  to 
unite  with  it,  for  a  number  of  years,  the  Larch , 


7fi  PLANTATIONS. 

which  may  be  so  placed  as  to  be  all  weeded  out 
during  the  course  of  thinning,  which  ought  to 
commence  in  a  few  years  after  planting,  and  go 
on  until  there  remains  nothing  but  Oak  in  pos- 
session of  the  ground. 

In  concluding  my  remarks  on  Planting,  I 
cannot  help  referring  to  the  specimens  of  sowing 
and  thick  planting,  which  may  be  seen  on  the 
extensive  estate  of  the  Duke  of  Portland,  at 
Welbeck,  and  in  that  neighbourhood.  It  has 
always  been  His  Grace's  practice,  either  to  sow 
Acorns,  or  to  plant  Oaks,  in  alternate  beds, 
having  Larch  between.  If  the  Oaks  were  planted, 
they  were  put  in  very  thickly  ;  and  although  their 
progress  was  necessarily  slower  than  it  would 
have  been,  if  they  had  been  allowed  more  room, 
it  cannot  be  doubted  that  His  Grace  had  a  great 
advantage  in  the  almost  unlimited  choice  which 
it  gave  him,  of  trees  of  perfect  form,  for  the  ulti- 
mate crop  of  timber. 

The  system  of  thick  planting  has  been  fully 
carried  out:  having  prepared  the  ground  well, 
His  Grace  appears  to  have  never  lost  sight,  for  an 
instant,  of  the  young  trees  that  he  had  undertaken 


PLANTATIONS.  77 

to  rear :  there  has  been  no  mistaken  practice — no 
niggardly  economy — no  ruinous  neglect,  rendering 
all  his  previous  care  abortive,  and  sacrificing  his 
large  outlay  at  the  commencement.  When  the 
Plantations  have  required  attention,  they  have 
evidently  had  it. 

The  admirer  of  fine  timber  will  see,  in  the 
Duke's  Plantations  and  grounds,  some  of  the  most 
perfectly  formed  trees  that  'can  be  conceived  of, 
and  that  not  on  a  small  scale,  but  to  an  extent  as 
comprehensive  as  that  truly  noble  Duke's  genius, 
of  whom  it  may  probably  be  said  that  he  unites, 
in  his  mind  and  person,  as  many  of  those  qualities 
which  constitute  true  Nobility,  as  any  Gentleman 
of  his  day. 

It  is  not  in  the  power  of  my  feeble  pen  to 
show  the  immense  amonnt  of  good  which  has 
accrued  to  the  immediate  neighbourhood,  from 
the  employment  of  the  poor  in  the  locality,  in 
carrying  on,  and  in  completing,  those  splendid 
improvements  which  His  Grace  has  originated, 
and  which  have  caused  the  literal  desert  to  "blos- 
som as  the  rose":  much  less  can  I  describe  the 
area  of  the  vast  circle,  within  which  the  most 
L 


78  PLANTATIONS. 

beneficial  effects  have  been  felt,  from  the  influence 
of  the  noble  Duke's  example,  while  perfecting,  as 
he  has  done,  his  various  plans  for  the  improve- 
ment of  his  fine  estate. 

In  the  Welbeck  Plantations  will  be  found,  as 
I  have  said,  a  class  of  trees,  most  perfectly  suited 
to  the  situations  where  they  stand,  and  giving  the 
surest  promise  of  future  superiority  :    but  what, 
let  me  ask,  would  ha"ve  been  the  quality  of   the 
Oaks,  if  the  noble  Duke  had  jumbled  together  an 
incongruous   admixture  of   various  sorts,    as  has 
been  recommended  by  various  writers  of  eminence, 
even  in  our  own  day  ?     I  am  not  disposed  to  enter 
into,  a  controversy  with  any  of  those  who  have 
recorded  their  opinions  in  their  writings,  otherwise 
I   might  have  plenty  of  work  on  my  hands:   it 
will  l>e  quite  as  much  as  ought  to  be  expected 
from  me,  if  I  defend  my  own :  but  I  would  just 
quote  a  single  paragraph  from  an  interesting  and 
useful,  but,  on  some  points,  incorrect  volume,  pub- 
lished by  "  The  Society  for  the  diffusion  of  Useful 
Knowledge."     It  is  entitled    "Useful  and  Orna- 
mental Planting."     The  passage  to  which  I  refer, 
will  be   found  in  the  43rd  page,  and  runs  thus  : 


PLANTATIONS.  79 

"  Simple  Plantations  consist  of  one  or  two  species 
of  trees  only  ;  mixed  Plantations  of  many  different 
species.  The  latter,  on  suitable  soils,  are  the 
most  profitable :  they  afford  an  earlier,  more  per- 
manent, and  a  larger  return  for  Capital  than 
simple  Plantations." 

In  a  book  where  there  is  so  much  to  commend, 
where  so  many  valuable  practical  directions  are 
given,  it  cannot  but  excite  regret,  to  meet  with 
a  paragraph  so  vague  and  unsatisfactory  as  the 
above ;  for  I  cannot  but  remark,  that  if  any  planter 
should  adopt  the  suggestion  which  is  thrown  out, 
it  will  end  in  disappointment  and  loss.  It  will,  in 
my  judgment,  generally  be  best  for  the  planter  to 
select  such  trees  for  nurses  as  are  most  congenial, 
and  best  adapted  to  the  local  market ;  and  surely 
these  will  not  be  the  Birch,  the  Beech,  the  Alder, 
or  the  Scotch  Fir  ;  none  of  which  are  ever  found 
to  answer  the  purpose  of  nursing  the  more  valu- 
able timber  trees,  or  of  securing  a  fair  return  for 
the  investment  of  capital. 

It  is  true  that  the  opinion  which  I  have  quoted, 
is  afterwards  qualified  by  the  remark,  that  certain 
'*  circumstances  connected  with  the  growth  of  the 


80  PLANTATIONS. 

various  species  of  forest  trees,  effectually  control 
the  planter  in  his  modes  of  arrangement,  &c."  but 
even  with  this  limitation,  the  planter  is  liable  to 
be  misled,  for  he  is  not  taught  to  set  a  higher 
value  upon  the  Larch,  which  may  in  almost  every 
locality  be  planted  with  a  much  better  chance 
of  profit,  than  the  other  kinds  with  which  it  is 
ranked,  and  which  ought  therefore,  if  profit  be  the 
object,  for  that  reason  alone,  to  be  preferred. 

In  any  thing  else  but  planting,  the  mischief 
of  such  a  mistake,  as  producing  that  which  was 
worthless  when  produced,  would,  in  a  short  time, 
have  cured  itself;  but  so  little  of  science,  or 
even  of  common  calculation,  have  been  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  practice  of  Arboriculture,  that, 
notwithstanding  the  evidence  which  is  every  where 
to  be  met  with,  of  serious  "  loss  and  disappoint- 
ment," for  want  of  calculation,  these  matters  go 
on  very  much  as  they  "  always  have  done." 

Finally,  as  to  planting,  it  must,  in  every  case, 
be  perfectly  clear  to  one  who  is  competent  to 
judge,  that,  whether  the  object  be  profit  merely, 
or  the  embellishment  of  the  landscape,  the  land 
ought  to  be  as  well  prepared  as  circumstances  will 


PLANTATIONS.  81 

permit,  and  that  such  species  of  trees  should  be 
preferred,  as  are  best  adapted  to  the  specific  object 
of  the  planter. 

The  distance  at  which  the  plants  shall  be  put 
in,  is  more  a  matter  of  opinion  than  some  planters 
would  be  inclined  to  admit.  For  myself,  I  am 
disposed  to  think,  that  some  advantages  are  lost 
to  a  Plantation,  under  certain  combinations  of  soil 
and  circumstances,  when  it  is  planted  thickly,  but 
I  would  not  either  rate  the  loss  too  highly,  or  ex- 
press my  opinion,  with  unseemly  positiveness  :  my 
notion  is,  that  the  supposed  advantages  of  planting 
thickly  may  generally  be  supplied  by  early,  judi- 
cious pruning,  and  that  the  progress  of  the  Plant- 
ation would  be  facilitated  thereby  :  that,  in  fact, 
a  Plantation  of  trees  at  a  distance  of  three  feet, 
being  properly  assorted,  having  had  a  good  start, 
and  suitable  treatment  in  all  respects  afterwards, 
would  reach  any  given  point  as  to  size,  and 
quality,  in  less  time  than  would  another  Plant- 
ation, upon  the  same  soil,  if  the  method  of  either 
sowing  acorns,  &c.,  or  planting  very  thickly,  were 
adopted.  In  saying  this,  I  by  no  means  wish  to 
condemn  the  practice  of  thick  planting ;  to  do  this, 


82  PLANTATIONS. 

in  the  face  of  proofs  of  success,  such  as  I  have 
described  as  existing  in  this  country,  would  be  an 
absurdity  of  which  I  would  not  willingly  be 
guilty  ;  but  at  the  same  time,  I  would  not  hesi- 
tate to  range  myself  among  those  who  prefer, 
under  ordinary  circumstances,  to  plant  at  a  mode- 
rate distance,  and  rely  upon  early  pruning,  for 
securing  the  object  which  the  close  planter  has  in 
view,  viz.,  length  of  bole,  or  stem,  and  clearness 
of  grain. 

I  come  now  to  remark  upon  the 


present  mo&e  of  managing  plantations  after 
are  ma&e. 


Abiding  still,  most  strictly,  by  the  rule  laid 
down  for  myself,  to  deal  with  every  part  of  my 
subject  practically,  I  proceed  to  observe,  that  the 
instances  where  Plantations  are  treated  with  due 
regard  to  the  principles  of  Arbori  cultural  science, 
are  not  the  rule,  but  the  exceptions  to  the  rule,  as 
every  scientific  planter,  who  has  looked  round 
him,  must  know. 


PLANTATIONS.  83 

Instead  of  the  trees  intended  for  timber  being 
nursed  with  the  tenderest  care  from  their  infancy — 
instead  of  their  being  treated  according  to  the 
known  and  fixed  laws  which  regulate,  and  effec- 
tually control,  the  economy  of  vegetable  life, 
whether  men  attend  to  them  or  not — they  too 
frequently  meet  with  treatment  which  is  in  direct 
opposition  to  those  laws.  I  shall  show  this  as 
clearly,  and  as  plainly,  as  I  can. 

When  a  gentleman  has  decided  to  plant,  when 
he  has  fixed  upon  the  right  mode  of  doing  it, 
and  has  finished  it  in  a  proper  manner ;  so  far  he 
has  done  all  that  could  be  expected  from  him ; 
but  if,  after  this,  he  leaves  his  Plantation  to  itself 
for  five,  ten,  or  fifteen  years,  he  transgresses  the 
laws  to  which  I  have  referred;  and  his  error  is 
one  of  omission. 

Again:  were  the  same  gentleman,  after  the 
lapse  of  ten  years,  or  even  less,  to  enter  his  Plant- 
ation, and  cut  and  thin  very  freely,  he  would 
violate  those  laws  by  an  error  of  commission,  and 
in  this  case,  as  well  as  the  other,  the  Plantation 
would  very  materially  suffer. 


84  PLANTATIONS. 

A  Plantation  which  should  be  subjected,  at  so 
early  a  stage  of  its  existence  as  ten  or  fifteen  years, 
to  the  ordeal  of  both  these  classes  of  errors,  could 
have  but  little  chance  of  succeeding  :  it  could  not 
be  expected  to  make  any  more  than  very  slow 
progress  after  such  treatment  as  this  :  and  yet  this 
is  exactly  the  way  in  which  many  Plantations  are 
managed,  at  all  stages  of  their  growth.     I  have 
recently  met    with  a  splendid  Larch  Plantation, 
which   has   never   been   thinned,    from   the   first, 
except  by  "fits  and  starts";  of  which  injudicious 
treatment,  1  could  see  very  serious  "  outward  and 
visible  signs."     Although  it  is  upon  exceedingly 
weak  and  poor  land,  it  would  have  produced,  if  it 
had  been  properly  managed,  a  fine  class  of  Larch- 
es, which  would  have  yielded  to  the  proprietor  an 
abundant  return    upon  nis   outlay.      If  any  one 
doubt  this,  let  him  look  around  and  see  if  he  can- 
not find  a  Plantation  of  forty  or  fifty  years  growth, 
which  is  crowded  with  trees — say  of  Larch  only— 
and  he  will,  upon  examination,  perceive  that  there 
are  two  or  three  distinct  classes  of  trees  still  stand- 
ing, all  of  which  ought,  long  before,  to  have  been 
taken  out;    and  that   there  is   but  one  class  of 


PLANTATIONS.  85 

Larches,  probably,  which  should  be  standing.  The 
other  two  classes  which  I  have  just  mentioned, 
would  be  found,  if  the  fact  could  be  clearly  come 
at,  very  nearly  of  the  same  size  as  they  had  been 
many  years  before ;  inasmuch  as  they  could  not 
possibly  make  any  wood,  being  themselves  over- 
topped by  their  more  thriving  and  vigorous  neigh- 
bours. It  is  perfectly  obvious  too,  that  the  injury 
arising  to  the  Plantation  would  not  stop  here.  So 
long  as  under-strappers  were  allowed  to  remain, 
they  would,  to  a  certain  extent,  have  the  effect  of 
preventing  the  admission  of  light  and  air  into  the 
Plantation,  which  would  materially  affect  the 
health  and  the  progress  of  the  standard  trees. 

The  errors  of  omission  are  both  serious  and 
numerous:  those  of  commission,  great  though 
they  be,  are  not  equally  so.  The  former  are 
generally  first  in  the  order  of  time,  for  where 
one  Plantation  is  injured  from  too  early  thin- 
ning, there  are  ten  that  suffer  for  the  want  of  it ; 
and  this  early  neglect  affects  the  vitality  and 
prosperity  of  a  Plantation  much  more  than  might 
be  supposed.  Omitting  to  do  what  ought  to  be 

done  will,   however,   be    very   prejudicial   to   the 
M 


86  PLANTATIONS. 

health  of  Plantations  at  any  stage  of  their  exist- 
ence, and  it  is  quite  well  known  to  the  experienced 
Forester,  that  they  ought  ever  to  be  watched  with 
most  tender  care,  until  the  planter  is  fully  satisfied 
that  he  has  completed  the  nursing  and  training 
of  a  sufficient  number  of  standard  trees,  to  furnish 
the  ultimate  crop. 

But  errors  of  omission  sometimes  admit  of 
remedy  ;  whereas,  if  injury  is  committed  by  ex- 
cessive thinning,  or  by  cutting  down  trees  which 
ought  to  have  remained,  it  is  often  difficult,  and 
sometimes  impossible,  to  repair  the  mischief  that 
is  done.  Both  the  errors  to  which  I  have  alluded, 
must  be  avoided  by  the  planter  who  would  desire 
to  have  a  healthy  and  continuously  thriving 
Plantation. 

Having  considered  well  the  following  points, 
viz.,  the  preparation  of  his  land — the  selection  of 
the  species  of  trees  that  he  will  plant — their  size 
and  quality — and  the  distance  at  which  they  shall 
stand  from  each  other,  he  must  remember  that, 
from  the  very  first,  they  will  not  only  require,  but 
they  will  well  pay  for,  his  closest  attention.  Dur- 
ing the  first  seven  years,  he  may,  probably,  have 


PLANTATIONS.  87 

little  else  to  do  at   them  than  to  keep  the  land 
clean  ;  but  this  will,  in  some  degree,  depend  upon 
the  distance  which  he  has  chosen  for  them ;  and 
on  the  kind  which  he  intends  for  the  final  crop  of 
timber.     But  whatever  they  may  be — whether  the 
Oak  alone,  or  along  with  some  other  species,  the 
trees  intended  for  timber  will  demand  the  peculiar, 
the  unremitted,  attention  of  the  planter :  his  object 
must   ever   be    to    deal    with  all  the  rest,  with 
distinct,    direct,    and    positive    reference    to    the 
careful   nursing  of  those:    and  it  must  always 
be   borne   in    mind,   that  whatever    be   the   fate 
of  the  nurses,  those  which  I   will   again    distin- 
guish from  the  rest,  by  calling  them  the  stand- 
ard trees,  must,  if  possible,  be  kept  in  vigorous 
health.      This   can   only  be    done,    concurrently 
with  the  ultimate  object  of  securing  great  length 
of  bole,  by  pruning  of  some  sort  or  other.     If  the 
trees  are  so  planted  as  to  insure  natural  pruning, 
no  other,  except  of  the  nurses,  will  be  required, 
but  the  first  operation  will  be   thinning;   which 
should    be  done   with  great    care    and  judgment. 
Where  it  is  not  so  done,  it  is  more  than  probable 
that  trees  will  be  taken  which  should  have  been 


88  PLANTATIONS. 

left,  and  the  contrary.  As  it  respects  the  Oak, 
the  principal  point  to  be  aimed  at  is,  to  spare  all 
those,  as  the  thinning  goes  on,  that  have  the  best 
defined  heads.  This  will  be  an  easy  matter  with 
an  experienced  and  well-taught  planter,  or  wood- 
man, and  the  difficulty,  if  any  there  be,  will  be 
less  at  each  succeeding  thinning,  as  the  heads  of 
the  trees  develope  themselves. 

But  when  trees  are  not  planted  so  thickly 
as  to  insure  length  of  bole  by  natural  pruning, 
they  must  be  pruned  with  the  knife  and  the 
bill-hook,  and  the  earlier  the  operation  is  begun, 
the  better. 

I  doubt  not  but  some  of  my  readers  will  stamp 
this  advice  with  their  unqualified  disapprobation. 
It  may  be  very  good  and  correct  notwithstanding. 
My  own  experience,  as  well  as  that  of  many 
others  whom  I  have  consulted,  convinces  me  that 
the  notion,  which  so  extensively  prevails,  as  to 
the  injurious  effects  of  pruning,  is  decidedly  incor- 
rect. It  may  have  had  its  origin  in  the  evidence 
of  injury  to  timber,  which  has  been  furnished  by 
injudicious  pruning;  and  thus  what  would  have 
else  been  universally  seen  to  be  necessary,  has 


PLANTATIONS.  89 

come  to  be  almost  universally  condemned :  but 
this  is  a  common  error,  and  has  been  too  often 
shown,  to  render  it  necessary  for  me  to  expose  it 
here.  Some  very  valuable  observations  on  pruning 
have  been  published  by  Mr.  Main,  in  his  excellent 
little  work,  entitled  "  The  Forest  Planter  and 
Pruner's  Assistant."  At  page  53,  the  following 
paragraph  occurs  :  "  But  the  only  part  of  a  wood- 
man's duty  which  does  not  appear  to  be  well 
defined,  or  at  least  not  generally  agreed  upon  by 
practical  men,  is  relative  to  the  necessity  of  care- 
fully pruning  and  managing  the  trees  during  the 
first  fifteen  or  twenty  years  of  their  growth." 

I  quote  the  last  member  of  the  above  with 
entire  approbation  :  that  is,  so  far  as  the  necessity 
for  pruning  is  recognized  in  it:  and  I  further 
think,  that  the  reasons  which  are  given  by  Mr. 
Main  for  pruning,  and  the  manner  in  which  he 
has  illustrated  his  principle — the  clear  and  satis- 
factory way  in  which  he  has  treated  the  whole 
subject — entitle  him  to  the  confidence,  and  to  the 
thanks,  of  all  who  are  interested  in  the  growth 
of  trees.  But  I  am  very  far  indeed  from  agreeing 
with  him  in  the  opinion  so  adventurously  given, 


90  PLANTATIONS. 

that   "  the  best  methods  of  preparing  the  ground 
for  the  reception  of  the  plants — manner  of  trans- 
planting— the  soils  most  suitable  for  each  species — 
are  all  thoroughly   and    universally   understood." 
My  belief  is,  on  the  contrary,  that  comparatively 
few  planters,  or  woodmen,  do  "thoroughly"  under- 
stand these  matters.     If  they  did,  their  practice 
would  not  be  so  extensively  wrong  as  it  is.      If 
it  were  so,  why  have  planters  so  widely  differed  ? 
Why  is  there  seen  such  discrepancy  in  their  modes 
of  management  ?     But  what  does  Mr.  Main  wish 
his  readers  to  understand  by  the  term  "practical 
men"  ?     If  he  refer  to  those  who  have  the  over- 
sight and  the  direction  of  the  practical  operations 
included  in  the  "preparation  of  the  soil  for  the 
reception  of  the  plants — manner  of  transplanting — 
the  soils  most  suitable  for  each  species,  &c." ;  and 
if  he  wish  to  convey  the  idea  that,  by  this  class  of 
persons,  these  points  are  "  thoroughly  and  univer- 
sally understood"  I  hold  him  to  be  wholly  and 
widely  wrong :  but  if  he  only  mean  that  scientific 
men,  who  have  well  studied  the  subject,  and  who 
have  written  upon  it,  and  really  intelligent  woodmen, 
are  agreed  as  to  the  best  practice,  I  do  not  greatly 


PLANTATIONS. 

differ  from  him ;  nor  do  I  conceive  that  the  main 
point,  at  which  I  have  aimed  in  this  publication, 
will  be  at  all  affected  by  any  concession  which  I 
make  to  this  effect  :  my  principal  object  has  been, 
and  will  be,  to  show  that,   however  clearly  and 
strongly  may  have  been  shown,  the  propriety  of 
acting  in  conformity  with  the  principles  of  science, 
in  the  original  formation  of  Woods  and  Plantations, 
in  the  planting  of  Hedge-row  Timber,  and  in  the 
general  management  of  them  all,  the  practice  of 
"practical  men"  has  been,  "except  as  before  ex- 
cepted,"  so  bad,  that  the  most  charitable  conclusion 
which  can  be  drawn  is,  that  they   "  thoroughly " 
misunderstand  almost  every  part  of  the  subject ! 
It  seems  rather  to  me,  that  instead  of  there  being 
only  one  point  in  their  practice  on  which  they 
need  enlightenment,  that  there  is  but  one  on  which 
they  may  be  said  to  agree,  and  that  is  in  a  thorough 
contempt  for  all  rules,  all  principles,  all  science! 
in  other  words,  that  this  class  of  persons  has  dis- 
played an  amount  of  ignorance,  (which,  however, 
has  been  more  their  misfortune  than  their  fault,) 
and   the   want   of  a  proper  apprehension   of  the 
nature  and  extent  of  their  obligations,  and  duties, 


92  PLANTATIONS. 

which  has  no  parallel  in  the  management  of  any 
other  description  of  property. 

But  this  is  a  digression :  I  pass  on,  therefore, 
to  the  question  of  pruning,  on  which  I  would 
again  commend  to  the  notice  of  my  readers,  the 
valuable  remarks  of  Mr.  Main,  as  well  as  some 
excellent  practical  observations  from  the  pen  of 
that  veteran  in  the  service,  Francis  Blakie,  Esq., 
late  Steward  to  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  from  whose 
small  pamphlet,  entitled  "A  Treatise  on  the  Man- 
agement of  Hedges  and  Hedge-row  Timber,"  the 
most  useful  information  may  be  gathered. 

Mr.  Main's  is  an  able  and  lucid  examination 
of  the  question  of  pruning,  and,  to  my  thinking, 
most  fully  and  satisfactorily  settles  it.  He  shows 
that  when  pruning  is  properly  done,  and  when  it 
is  commenced  early  enough,  and  so  managed  as  to 
secure  the  desired  result  in  fifteen  or  twenty  years, 
it  may  not  only  be  done  with  safety,  and  without 
material  injury  to  the  timber,  but  that  no  other 
plan  or  practice  will  answer  so  well.  This  he 
clearly  proves  upon  scientific  data,  familiarly  illus- 
trated by  numerous  plates,  and  confirmed  by 
practical  statements. 


PLANTATIONS.  93 

If,  however,  it  were  only  from  neglecting  to 
prune  that  the  Plantations  of  this  kingdom  had 
gone  wrong,  the  "mismanagement"  would  not 
have  furnished  a  subject  for  remarks  so  strong  as 
it  now  does ;  but,  as  I  have  stated  over  and  over 
again,  the  practice  is,  in  most  cases  and  on  many 
accounts,  at  every  stage  of  their  progress,  almost 
as  bad  as  it  can  be. 

The  treatment  which  a  Plantation  ought  to 
receive,  may  be  comprised  in  a  very  few  words. 
The  principals  will  require  pruning  from  an  early 
period  after  being  planted,  and  the  pruning  must 
be  continued,  more  or  less,  according  to  circum- 
stances, either  every  year  or  every  alternate  year, 
until  it  is  from  fifteen  to  twenty  years  old ;  and, 
during  the  same  period,  a  small  portion  of  thinning 
will  probably  be  required.  As  to  the  nurses,  they 
must  be  watched  constantly  after  the  fourth  year, 
and  they  must  be  treated  with  sole  reference  to 
the  prosperity  of  the  other  trees ;  they  may,  there- 
fore, be  pruned,  or  lopped  in  any  way  that  will 
best  subserve  that  end.  Of  course  I  am  now 
speaking  of  Plantations  where  the  trees  are  not 
N 


94  PLANTATIONS. 

put  nearer  to  each  other  than  three  feet,  and 
when,  in  consequence,  they  must  have  artificial 
pruning. 

In  cases  where  pruning  begins  soon  enough, 
the  question  which  has  been  raised  as  to  the 
manner  of  doing  it — whether  by  close  pruning, 
snag  pruning,  or  fore-shortening — will  not  apply. 
All  the  principals  should  be  dose  pruned  with  a 
sharp  instrument,  care  being  taken  not  to  wound 
the  bark  too  extensively.  The  principle  to  be 
kept  in  view  at  all  times,  when  dealing  with  a 
Plantation,  is,  to  subject  it  to  no  sudden  changes, 
but  when  pruning  is  found  to  be  insufficient,  to 
commence  a  course  of  gradual  thinning,  which 
shall  not,  in  any  'considerable  degree,  at  any  period, 
disturb  the  temperature  of  the  Plantation.  If  this 
point  be  duly  attended  to,  and  a  sound  judgment 
be  exercised  in  selecting  the  principals,  the  plant- 
er's most  sanguine  expectations  will  not  be  dis- 
appointed. 

So  far  as  I  have  ventured  to  offer  suggestions 
for  the  proper  management  of  Plantations,  I  have 
intended  them  to  apply  to  such  as  are  not  over 


PLANTATIONS.  95 

twenty  years  of  age  ;  but  it  is  well  known  to  all 
who  concern  themselves  in  such  matters,  that  a 
class  of  Plantations  ranging  above  that  age,  up 
to  forty   or  fifty,   may   be   met  with  in   various 
localities,  which  stands   much  in  need  of  better 
"management."      In  all  cases  of  great  neglect, 
which  has  been  continued  more  than  twenty  years, 
the  nicest  judgment  is  necessary.     The  difficulty 
is,  however,  always  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of 
neglect.     Where  the  trees  have  been  put  in  thick- 
ly, and  nothing,  or  almost  nothing,  has  been  done, 
little  can  be  expected  even  from  the  most  judicious 
treatment ;  but  still  the  means  ought  to  be  tried, 
for  one  thing  is  quite  certain,  viz.,  that  the  longer 
remedial  steps  are  put  off,  the  less  chance  there 
must  be  of  their  doing  any  good. 

If,  when  the  Plantation  has  been  thus  neg- 
lected, a  person  is  called  in  who  does  not  fully 
understand  what  he  is  about,  irreparable  mischief 
will  be  done  :  he  is  almost  sure  to  thin  too  freely., 
A  proprietor  of  long  neglected  Plantations  mustx 
therefore,  be  well  assured  beforehand,  that  the 
person  he  employs  will  be  guided  in  the  course  he 


96  PLANTATIONS. 

takes  by  correct  views,  both  practical  and  scien* 
tifie,  upon  the  whole  subject;  and  when  such  is 
the  case,  the  most  suitable  and  appropriate  plans 
will  be  adopted. 

Should  any  one  demand  of  me  before  I  close, 
some  data  on  which  he  may  judge  whether  or 
not  a  Plantation  is  in  a  condition  requiring  unusual 
attention,  I  offer  the  following : 

First :  If,  upon  examination,  it  be  found  that 
the  trees  intended  for  timber  have  not  an  aspect 
and  position  superior  to  the  others  which  are 
around  them : 

Secondly :  If,  at  any  period  after  twenty  years 
from  the  time  of  planting,  it  be  found  difficult  to 
identify  and  point  out  the  trees  which  are  to  be 
the  final  crop: 

Thirdly:  When  there  are  any  decided  in- 
dications of  a  want  of  health  and  vigour,  there  is 
proof  sufficient  that  something  more  is  required 
to  be  done  than  has  yet  been  done.  The  grosser 
cases  of  Plantations  which  have  never  been  enter- 
ed for  any  purpose,  for  five,  ten,  fifteen,  or  twenty 
years  together,  need  not  be  pointed  at.  Every 


PLANTATIONS.  97 

one  who  sees  them  must  perceive  the  necessity 
of  their  being  relieved  without  loss  of  time.  No 
plant,  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge,  can 
exist  without  light  and  air,  and  in  proportion  to 
the  extent  to  which  they  are  excluded  from  Plant- 
ations, will  he  the  injurious  effect  produced  upon 
the  health  of  the  trees.  In  fact,  it  may  be  laid 
down  as  a  universal  rule,  that  in  proportion 
to  the  judgment  and  discrimination  which  are 
exercised  in  gradually  admitting  both  light  and 
air  into  Plantations,  of  almost  every  description, 
will  be  their  healthy  progress. 

I  conclude  my  remarks  on  this  part  of  my 
subject  by  observing  that,  having  admitted,  as  I 
most  fully  and  readily  do,  that  a  few  instances 
may  be  met  with  in  almost  every  county  where 
the  science  of  Arboriculture  is  tolerably  well 
understood,  and  its  principles  carried  out,  I  must 
still  contend  that  cases  enough  may  be  found — 
First ;  of  a  want  of  preparation  of  the  ground : 
Secondly ;  of  an  improper  selection  of  plants, 
either  as  to  kind  or  size :  Thirdly  ;  of  an  unsuit- 
able admixture  of  them:  Fourthly;  of  mistakes 


98  PLANTATIONS. 

committed  as  to  their  distance  from  each  other: 
Fifthly ;  when  they  are  injured  for  want  of  early 
attention :  Sixthly ;  when  injury  is  done  to  them 
for  want  of,  or  from  imprudent,  or  excessive, 
thinning,  to  fully  justify  me,  or  any  one  else,  in 
bringing  before  the  public  the  "  mismanagement" 
of  Plantations. 


CHAP.   III. 

HEDGE-ROW    TIMBER 


IN  commencing  this,  the  third  part  of  my 
subject,  I  am  fully  impressed  with  a  sense  of  its 
magnitude  and  difficulty ;  and  nothing  hut  a  tho-- 
rough  conviction  resting  on  my  own  mind,  of  the 
truth  of  the  position  which  I  have  taken  with 
reference  to  the  present  state,  and  the  present 
management  of  Hedge-row  Timber,  would  have 
emboldened  me  to  give  expression  to  views  which 
cannot  but  be  unpalatable  to  many,  however  just 
they  may  be,  and  however  strong  their  claim,  to 
the  serious  notice  of  others.  I  am  fully  prepared 
to  expect  that  censure  may  be  dealt  out  by  some, 
in  not  very  measured  terms,  but  this  does  not 
move  me :  having  nothing  but  a  plain,  unvarnished 
tale  to  tell,  T  shall  tell  that  tale  as  fearlessly  as  if 


100  HEDGE-ROW    TIMBER. 

I  were  about  to  pour  sweetest  music  into  the  ears 
of  those  who  may  read.     I  know  whereof  I  speak ; 
and  while  I  have  as  little  fear  of  any  one  success- 
fully attempting  to  disprove  what  I  shall  advance, 
as  I  have  at  present,   I  can  contemplate,  without 
a  single  disturbed  feeling,  the  liability  to  which 
I  shall  assuredly  expose  myself,  of  having  sundry 
missiles  thrown  at  me  by  those  who  are  deeply 
implicated  in  the  present   "mismanagement"  of 
this  valuable  property.    Thus  much  with  reference 
to  those  who  are  in  offices  of  trust  and  confidence, 
as    the    managers    of    Woods,    Plantations,   and 
Hedge-Rows,   if   any  such  shall  favour  me  with 
a  perusal.     But  I  may  not  proceed  any  further, 
before  I  say  a  few  words   in  deprecation  of  the 
displeasure  of  a  more  important  class  of  persons 
who  will,  I  trust,  do  me  the  honour  to  read  my 
"Remarks";  I  mean,  the  proprietors  of  Hedge- 
row Timber.     To  these — ^or  rather  to  that  portion 
of  them  who  have  hitherto  paid  little  attention  to 
this  part  of  their  property — I  would  say,  let  my 
observations  be  "weighed  in  the  balances,"  and, 
if  they  are   "found  wanting,"    let  these  be  set 
against  what  cannot  be  called  more  than  a  venial 


HEDGE-ROW   TIMBER.  101 

error — an  error  of  judgment — the  strong,  the  ardent 
desire  that  I  have  to  see  introduced  the  correction 
of  what  I  have,  at  least,  deemed  to  he,  a  serious 
mischief. 

If  Hedge-row  Timher  has  heen  "  misman* 
aged" — and  who  can  douht  it — on  whom  shall  the 
blame  fall  ?  As  I  have  more  than  once  said  be- 
fore, not  on  a  class  of  men  who,  from  their  educa- 
tion, must  necessarily  be  limited  to  the  mechanical 
duties  connected  with  their  office,  but  on  the 
Owners  of  Timber,  from  whom  either  directly,  or 
through  the  agency  of  persons  duly  qualified,  such 
rules  and  regulations  ought  to  proceed,  as  would 
insure  a  better  system  of  management.  Practices 
are  allowed,  and  such  a  state  of  things  is  permitted 
by  the  proprietors  of  Hedge-row  Timber,  as  abun- 
dantly prove  that  many  of  them  have  never  either 
understood  its  value,  or  given  themselves  the  trou- 
ble to  enquire  whether  it  was  under  a  course  of 
suitable  treatment  or  not. 

I    have    stated    that    I  consider  the  question 
which  I  am  handling  a  difficult  one.     I  feel  it  to 
be  so — not  because  I  have  any  difficulty  in  prov- 
ing "mismanagement"  on  the  part  of  those  who 
O 


102  HEDGE-ROW   TIMBER. 

have  to  do  with  the  timber  of  our  hedges — not 
because  I  can  feel  a  doubt  that  my  statements  will 
carry  conviction  along  with  them  ;    but   because 
I  must  necessarily   come  into  collision,  both  with 
the  refined  tastes,  and  with  the  prejudices,  of  many 
of  my  readers.     For  instance :  if  I  assert,  as  I  do 
without  any  hesitation,  that  many  Noblemen  and 
Gentlemen  suffer  their  Hedge-row  Timber  to  stand 
much  too  long — where  is  the  admirer  of  the  beau- 
ties of  landscape  scenery,  who  will  not  instantly, 
and  perhaps  indignantly,  throw  down  my  book, 
and  charge  me  with  being  the  most  presumptuous 
of  grumblers,  and,  as  to  taste,  a  very  heretic  ! 

If  to  such  a  charge  as  this  I  plead  "not  guilty," 
as,  after  all  that  can  be  said,  I  really  must  do, 
I  am  aware  that  I  must  be  prepared  with  a  very 
strong  defence.  I  think  I  am  so  prepared.  My 
defence  will  rest  on  three  principal  points,  which 
it  will  be  my  endeavour  to  bring  out  in  the  course 
of  my  "  Remarks :  viz.:  First ;  I  shall  show  that 
the  magnitude  of  the  sacrifice  which  arises  from 
Hedge-row  Timber  being  suffered  to  stand  so  long, 
is  disproportionate  to  the  good  resulting  from  it. 
Secondly ;  that  the  embellishment  of  a  landscape 


HEDGE-ROW    TIMBER.  103 

does  not  necessarily  include  the  perpetuity  of  any 
one  race  of  timber  trees.  And  thirdly ;  that  the 
present  mode  of  "mismanaging"  Hedge-row  Tim- 
ber, is  a  perpetual  offence  against  good  taste. 

Although  I  have  arranged  my  three  propo- 
sitions as  above,  I  do  not  intend  to  bind  myself  to 
take  them  up  again,  and  dispose  of  them  in  con- 
secutive order :  I  have  neither  time  nor  the  ability 
to  adapt  my  "remarks"  to  the  niceties  of  exact 
logical  arrangement ;  it  will  be  sufficient  for  me,  if 
I  shall  succeed  in  leaving  upon  the  minds  of  those 
who  may  read  them,  an  impression  of  their  truth, 
If  that  result  is  arrived  at,  it  surely  will  be  quite 
sufficient  to  draw  the  particular  attention  of  pro- 
prietors to  the  subject;  which  will  be  more  than 
half  way  towards  securing  the  improvement  which 
is  so  loudly  called  for :  and  that  would  be  as  much 
perhaps,  as  could  at  once  be  reasonably  expected. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  glance  for  an  instant* 
at  the  value  of  the  property  about  which  I  am 
writing.  Few  people,  I  imagine,  have  any  proper 
conception  of  the  aggregate  amount.  It  is,  of 
course,  impossible  to  offer  more  than  a  conjecture 


104  HEDGE-ROW   TIMBER. 

on  the  subject ;  but  probably  it  is  not  less,  in  Eng- 
land alone,  than  One  Hundred  Millions  sterling ! 

It  is  quite  clear  that  a  course  of  management 
which  only,  in  some  of  its  details,  falls  short  of 
what  it  ought  to  be,  would  involve,  as  it  affected 
such  an  immense  investment,  a  very  serious  loss 
to  somebody.  How  much  more  serious  then,  must 
it  be,  if,  not  only  some  of  the  minor  details  of 
management,  but  the  entire  course  of  treatment, 
be  radically  wrong,  as  it  respects  a  considerable 
proportion,  and  very  defective  indeed  as  to  the 
remainder  ?  It  would  be  a  waste  of  time  to  stop 
here  with  a  view  to  argue,  in  proof  of  what  must 
appear  to  every  one  to  be  nothing  less  than  an 
axiom. 

That  proprietors  of  Hedge-row  Timber  are  not 
solely  influenced  by  considerations  of  taste  in  their 
management  of  it,  is  most  evident  to  an  experi- 
enced eye ;  but  the  heavy  loss,  which  is  consequent 
upon  allowing  it  to  stand  so  long,  has,  probably, 
never  been  fairly  understood  by  them,  or  some 
efforts  would  have  been  made  to  prevent  it. 

If  a  Nobleman  or  Gentleman  merely  suffered 
his  timber  to  stand  beyond  maturity  in  the  neigh- 


HEDGE-ROW   TIMBER.  105 

bourhood  of  his  house,  or  on  the  domain  where  his 
mansion  stood,  however  extensive  it  might  be : — or 
if  he  generously  spared  the  trees  which,  though  at 
a  great  distance  from  his  residence,  were  so  placed 
as  to  enrich,  if  not  constitute  the  principal  beauty 
of,  some  splendid  scene  in  nature,  no  one,  who 
possesses  a  grain  of  taste,  would  regret  it,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  would  feel  grateful  for  this  sacrifice 
to  one  of  the  most  hallowed  emotions  of  the  heart, 
when  surveying  the  Creator's  works,  which  are  all 
perfect ;  and  the  touches  of  whose  pencil  are  all 
loveliness — whether  as  seen  in  the  refreshing  beau- 
ty of  foliage  which  distinguishes  the  vernal  season, 
or  the  mellowed  minglings  of  Autumn's  enchanting 
exhibitions :  but  when  it  is  considered,  that  a 
majority  of  the  Nobility  and  Gentry,  thus  treat 
their  remote  and  even  most  distant  estates,  where 
besides,  there  is  nothing  particularly  attractive  in 
the  scenery,  the  propriety  of  the  course  which  they 
pursue  may,  I  think,  be  fairly  questioned.  Some 
other  reason  therefore,  than  a  deference  to  the 
principles  of  good  taste  must  be  found,  in  order  to 
account  for  their  conduct ;  and  in  looking  round  for 
a  reason  I  should  say,  a  good  deal  must  be  set 


106  HEDGE-ROW    TIMBER. 

down  to  indifference )  and  pure  neglect.  This  I  say, 
because  it  will  not  admit  of  question,  that  a  most 
extensive  loss  arises,  both  to  themselves,  and  the 
community  in  consequence ;  and  it  is  not  often  that 
gentlemen  wilfully  close  their  eyes  to  the 
importance  of  pecuniary  considerations,  except 
there  is  some  powerful  and  justifiable  reason  which 
leads  them  to  do  so. 

Without  speculating  further  as  to  the  precise 
cause,  it  is  certain  that  the  amount  of  property 
which  is  thus  wasted,    absolutely  wasted — and  in 
almost  every  case  without  any  advantage  to  any 
party  whatever — is  enormous,  as  it  would  be  easy 
to  show  by  statistical  details  and  calculations,  ap- 
plying to  any  estate  where  this  horror  of  felling 
timber  may  have  existed  for  half  a  century.    Were 
this  accurately  done,  there  could  not  but  be  such 
a  showing,  as  would  fully  establish  the  truth  of 
what  I  have  advanced.     There  would  indeed  be 
no  difficulty   in  fixing  upon    an    estate,    in  any 
locality,  which  would  illustrate  my  position,  but 
T  shall  not  here  attempt  it,  for  various  reasons, 
which  will  be  obvious  to  all.     It  would  be  travel- 
ling beyond  the  bounds  of  legitimate  remark,  were 


HEDGE-ROW   TIMBER.  107 

I  to  refer  to  any  particular  estate,  and  any  other 
references,  however  accurate  in  point  of  fact,  would 
not  be  sufficiently  specific.  I  would  rather 
recommend  any  gentleman  whose  estate  may  be 
pretty  well  covered  with  timber,  already,  or  long 
since,  arrived  at  maturity,  to  make  as  near  an 
estimate  as  he  can  of  its  present  value,  or  procure 
it  to  be  made ;  and  having  calculated  the  amount 
which  would  be  exhibited  of  the  gross  sum  at 
compound  interest,  for  any  given  term  of  years, 
then  let  him  "try  back,"  and  endeavour  to  ascer- 
tain what,  according  to  this  mode  of  calculation, 
may  have  been  his  individual  loss.  But  when  a 
gentleman  coolly  makes  up  his  mind  to  allow  his 
Timber  Trees  to  go  to  decay  without  ever  intend- 
ing, or  wishing,  to  make  any  thing  of  them,  why 
then,  in  that  case,  nothing  can  be  advanced,  but 
to  suggest  the  means  of  protracting  their  existence 
to  the  longest  possible  period. 

It  is  impossible  not  to  do  homage  to  the  feeling 
which  prompts  a  gentleman  to  make  so  large  a 
sacrifice  to  taste,  as  to  suffer  the  greater  part  of 
his  Hedge-row  and  detached  Timber  to  perish  by 
slow  decay ;  but  if  it  can  be  proved  that  he  acts 


108  HEDGE-ROW   TIMBER. 

upon  mistaken  views,  and  that,  by  a  better  system 
of   management,     his    object    might    be    gained 
without  the  very  serious  pecuniary  loss  which,  011 
the   other  plan,     he   must  necessarily   suffer,    it 
cannot  be  doubted   that   such   a  suggestion  ought 
to     command     his    instant     attention.      It    will 
hardly  be  denied,  I  think,  by  any  one  who  fully 
understands  the  subject,  that  such  a  regular  suc- 
cession of  Timber  Trees  in  the  Fields  and  Hedge- 
rows might   be  secured    by  a  proper   system  of 
management,  as  would  sustain  and  perpetuate  the 
beauties  of  the  landscape,  while,  at  the  same  time, 
nearly  every  tree  should  be  taken  in  its  turn  as  it 
arrived  at  maturity.     It  would,  of  course,  require 
an  entire  change  of  system,  or  rather  of  practice , 
and  the  change  would  necessarily  involve  a  con- 
siderable outlay,  inasmuch  as  a  constant  super- 
vision would  be  required  from  the  time  of  planting, 
but  whatever  might  be  the  expense,  it  would  be 
amply  returned ;  and  whatever  might  be  the  ap- 
parent difficulty,  it  would  not  be  such  but  that 
skill   and    perseverance    would    be   sure   to   sur- 
mount it. 


HEDGE-ROW   TIMBER.  109 

If  then  the  objection  which  would  be  made  by 
the  man  of  taste,  to  the  felling  of  Hedge-row  and 
detached  Timber,  could  be  effectually  obviated, 
by  providing  a  regular  succession  to  take  the 
place  of  such  as  might  be  cut  down — for  the  dif- 
ference of  a  few  yards  in  the  site  need  hardly  be 
taken  into  the  account — one  great  difficulty,  at 
least,  would  be  overcome ;  and  instead  of  wasting, 
as  is  done  under  the  present  practice,  a  quantity 
of  Timber,  the  aggregate  value  of  which  makes 
it  an  object  of  national  importance,  the  growers 
might  take  down  their  trees  when  they  arrived  at 
maturity,  and  thus  produce  a  constant  supply  of 
the  best  sort  for  home  consumption:  and  it  will 
not  surely  be  argued  by  the  most  determined  ad- 
vocate for  free  trade,  that  it  would  be  for  the 
interest  of  the  English  Gentleman  to  give  a  higher 
price  for  Foreign  Pine  than  he  would  be  able  to 
make  of  home-grown  Oak !  No  !  emphatically 
No ! !  When  the  navy  requires  it,  by  all  means 
let  it  be  so  appropriated,  and  if  the  demand  be 
sufficient  from  that  quarter,  the  relative  price  will 
be  kept  up,  but  let  not  English  heart  of  Oak  be 
reduced  in  our  home  market  below  the  value  of  an 


110  HEDGE-ROW   TIMBER. 

inferior  article,  with  all  the  costs  of  transit  added 
to  the  original  price.  This  were  indeed  to  show 
a  most  extravagant  and  unaccountable  preference 
of  a  crotchet  over  the  obvious  dictates  of  reason, 
and  the  suggestions  of  prudence.  It  would  indeed 
be  to  drop  the  substance,  and  grasp  at  the  shadow. 
I  trust  I  may  now  conclude  that  I  have  satis- 
factorily proved,  not  only  that  the  "  magnitude  of 
the  sacrifice  which  the  present  practice  involves 
is  disproportionate  to  the  good  resulting,"  .but  that 
"  the  embellishment  of  a  landscape  does  not  neces- 
sarily include  the  perpetuity  of  any  one  race  of 
Trees."  In  handling  the  remaining  proposition, 
and  in  endeavouring  to  prove  that  the  present 
treatment  of  Hedge-row  Timber  is  "  a  perpetual 
offence  against  good  taste,"  I  shall  at  the  same 
time,  be  accumulating  evidence  in  support  of  the 
other  two. 

It  is  proper  to  remark  before  I  proceed  any 
further,  that  when  I  speak  of  Timber  being  allowed 
to  stand  too  long,  and  of  the  consequent  heavy  loss 
upon  it  to  the  proprietors,  I  refer  to  such  as  belongs 
to  the  Nobility  and  Gentry,  for,  although  their 
example  has  in  this,  as  well  as  in  every  thing 


HEDGE-ROW    TIMBER.  Ill 

else,  some  effect  upon  those  below  them,  it  does 
happen  that,  in  this  respect  at  least,  the  middle 
classes  are  wiser  in  their  day  and  generation  than 
their  superiors,  the  Timber  upon  small  estates 
being  generally  taken  down  at  an  earlier  period 
than  on  large  ones.  There  is  indeed  among  the 
higher  orders — of  course  with  a  few  exceptions — 
a  prejudice  against  felling  Timber,  older  than  the 
oldest  Timber  Tree  in  existence ;  and  as  strong 
as  the  most  enthusiastic  admirer  of  the  beauties 
of  landscape  scenery  can  desire  it  to  be :  and  so 
far  is  this  feeling  carried,  that,  by  many,  Timber 
of  the  most  unsightly  character,  and  in  situations 
where  it  can  be  associated  with  no  idea  connected 
with  the  scenery,  is  religiously  spared,  and  spared 
long  after  it  has  ceased  to  be  either  useful  or  orna- 
mental where  it  stands. 

Having  ventured  thus  strongly  to-  point  out 
the  loss  to  proprietors,  I  will  now  show,  by  an 
example,  how  the  community  is  affected  by  the 
disinclination  to  fell  one  particular  kind  of  timber ; 
viz.,  the  Ash.  This  tree  is  hardly  ever  cut  down 
before  it  becomes  exceedingly  tender;  and  as 
almost  every  agricultural  implement  is  either 


112  HEDGE-ROW    TIMBER. 

wholly,  or  partly  composed  of  it,  the  consumers — 
those   who  wear  out  the  wagons  and  carts,  the 
ploughs  and  harrows — are  proportionate  sufferers ; 
for  it  cannot  for  a  moment  be  supposed,  that  tim- 
ber which  is  in  the  last  stage  of  decay,  or  indeed, 
approaching  to  that  stage,  will  wear  half  so  long 
as  that  which  is  cut  down  as  soon  as  it  has  arrived 
at  full  maturity.     The  period  when  it  has  done  so, 
will  be  indicated  to  a  practiced  eye,  at  a  single 
glance,  even  with    that  class  of  trees  which  has 
had  fair  play  ;  or  in  other  words,  where  premature 
decay  has  not  been  brought  on  by  mal-treatment. 
But  the  latter  class  is  by  far  the  most  numerous, 
and  it  requires  very  little  either  of  science,  or  of 
knowledge  of  a  practical  kind,  to  teach  a  man  how 
to  deal  with  them.     It  is  of  no  use  to  let  them 
stand.     If  they  are  not  wanted  for  ornament,  the 
sooner  they  are  felled  the  better,  for  the  process  of 
decay  is  very  rapid  in  this  particular  tree.     Their 
early  removal  is  further  necessary,  because  they 
injuriously  affect  the  Farmer  in  another  way,  as 
I  will  show. 

The  roots,  &c.  of  one  single  Ash  Tree  are  said 
to  amount  to  a  million  in  number,  and  to  extend 


HEDGE-ROW    TIMBER.  113 

themselves  as  far  all  round  the  bole  as  the  branch- 
es. I  do  not  profess  to  be  able  to  form  a  very 
decided  opinion  as  to  the  number  of  the  roots,  root- 
lets, fibres,  &c.,  but  I  have  seen  quite  enough  of 
the  habits  of  the  tree  to  convince  me,  that  the  roots 
extend  themselves  much  farther  than  is  here  sup- 
posed ;  and  it  is  well  known  to  all  farmers,  that 
to  a  distance  far  beyond  this,  vegetation  is  almost 
totally  destroyed ;  and  that,  near  a  Hedge-row 
(dividing  two  arable  fields)  which  is  filled  wiih 
filthy,  scabbed,  stunted  Ash  Trees,  which,  from 
"mismanagement,"  have  been  brought  into  such 
a  condition  as  positively  to  be  making  no  progress 
at  all,  sow  what  he  may,  the  farmer  can  never 
reap  any  thing :  and  yet  these  unsightly  things, 
which  are  the  latest  of  all  other  of  our  common 
deciduous  trees,  in  getting  their  foliage,  and  almost 
the  earliest  out  again,  are  suffered  to  linger  out 
their  feeble,  but  blighting  existence,  until  by  slow 
decay  they  become  so  unsound,  that  the  wind 
blows  them  down,  and  they  are  fit  for  nothing  but 
the  fire !  or,  if  they  do  not  actually  reach  this 
stage,  they  are  only  cut  down  because  the  owner 
has  the  fear  of  such  a  result  before  his  eyes !  A 


114  HEDGE-ROW    TIMBER. 

volume  might  be  written  with   reference   to  this 
particular  tree,  were  it  necessary  to  take  up  every 
one  of   the  points   which  present  themselves,  as 
condemning  the  present  practice  in  its  manage- 
ment, but  that  is  not  needed,  for  the  Ash  Tree  is 
so  generally  met  with  in  a  diseased  state,  that  it 
may  be  considered  as  the  subject  of  grosser  -'mis- 
management"   than   any    other  of  our   domestic 
trees.      If  any  one  still  deny  this,  let  him  look 
round  him  and  say,  why  Hedge-rows  so  abound 
every  where,  in  puny,  sickly,  Ash  Timber,  which 
cannot  possibly  attain  to  a  useful  size :  and  when 
he  has  confessed  the  fact,  that  they  really  do  exist 
in  that  state,  I  will  reiterate  the  assertion,  that  the 
cause  is  bad  management !      It  the  present  con- 
dition of  Hedge-row  Ash,  generally,  does  not  prove 
"  Tms-management,"  I  am  at  a  loss  to  know  what 
does,  for  when  the  different  kinds  are  planted  upon 
a  congenial  soil,  if  they  be  properly  treated,  they  will 
continue  to  grow,  more  or  less  rapidly,  according  to 
circumstances,  and  for  a  longer  or  shorter  period, 
as  the  natural  term  of  their  existence  may  rule :  but 
as  they  are  now  treated,  they  are  never  healthy, 
for  the  principle  of  decay  is  introduced  at  a  very 


HEDGE-ROW   TIMBER.  .         115 

early  stage  of  their  existence,  and  in  consequence, 
premature  old  age  is  brought  on.  To  the  absence 
of  early  training,  may  be  attributed  much  of  what 
is  seen  to  be  wrong  in  the  present  condition  and 
quality  of  Hedge-row  Timber,  but  much  more  to 
the  vile  practice  of  mutilating  the  trees,  which 
almost  every  where  obtains.  There  is,  indeed,  in 
some  quarters,  such  perfect  indifference  manifested 
about  the  well-being  of  the  trees,  that  free  licence 
is  allowed  to  the  tenants  of  the  land  to  do  as  they 
will  with  them :  and  free  use  they  make  of  it,  as 
may  well  be  supposed,  and  as  is  abundantly  evi- 
dent in  all  such  places.  And  why  should  it  be 
otherwise  ?  It  has  so  long  been  the  practice,  and 
it  is  so  far  out  of  their  way  to  really  understand 
the  matter,  that  farmers  may  well  be  excused. 
They  cut  off  the  roots,  and  reduce  the  extent  of 
the  branches,  of  their  enemy,  in  self  defence;  and 
without  having  the  remotest  idea  that  they  are 
doing  so  serious  an  injury  to  the  property  of  their 
landlords.  This  is  fully  proved  by  the  fact,  that 
they  treat  their  own  trees  in  precisely  the  same 
way.  It  is,  then,  to  the  indifference  that  has 
hitherto  been  manifested  by  the  proprietors  of 


116  HEDGE-ROW   TIMBER. 

Hedge-row  Timber,  and  the  consequent  prevalence 
of  mistaken  views  on  the  subject,  that  the  present 
state  of  things  is  to  be  attributed.  Some  gentlemen 
do  indeed  introduce  into  their  Agreements,  clauses 
affecting  to  provide  against  the  mischievous  prun- 
ing which  is  here  condemned,  but,  except  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  a  mansion,  where  a  strict  look 
out  is  generally  kept,  they  are  quite  inoperative — 
they  are  a  dead  letter,  for  not  only  does  the  prun- 
ing go  on,  but,  as  I  have  just  hinted,  the  trees  are 
often  attacked  below  too,  and  deprived  of  their 
roofs,  as  well  as  their  branches,  thus  cutting  off 
their  supply  of  nutriment  from  the  atmosphere 
above,  and  from  their  legitimate  sources  of  supply 
from  the  soil.  Both  these  practices  ought  to  be 
most  strictly  interdicted. 

My  indignation  and  regret  have  a  thousand 
times  been  excited,  on  seeing  the  noblest  of  all  our 
Hedge-row  Trees,  the  Oak,  clipped  of  its  beautiful 
proportions,  and  reduced  by  repeated  snaring,  as 
it  is  most  aptly  called,  to  the  capacity  and  shape 
of  a  huge  besom!  and  by  this  truly  infamous  treat- 
ment, deprived  not  only  of  all  its  scenic  beauty, 
but  actually  of  its  specific  character !  and,  if  not 


HEDGE-ROW    TIMBER.  117 

altogether  stopped  in  its  growth,  rendered  utterly 
worthless  for  application  to  the  chief  end  and  pur- 
pose for  which  it  is  adapted  and  intended.  I  need 
not  say,  that  I  mean — the  huilding  of  ships. 

Upon  this  subject  there  ought  not  to  be  two 
opinions :  neither  will  there,  among  those  who 
really  understand  it ;  hut  it  is  much  to  he  lamented, 
that  a  very  large  portion  of  the  Hedge-row  Timber 
of  this  country  is  in  the  hands  of  persons  who 
either  do  not  understand  the  management  of  it, 
or  who  are  indifferent  about  it.  It  very  frequently 
happens,  that  there  is  no  person  but  the  Land 
Steward,  who  can  make  any  pretensions  to  a  cor- 
rect judgment  in  the  matter,  and  he  has  often 
quite  enough  to  attend  to,  without  so  responsible  a 
duty  as  this  is — being  added  to  his  department. 
He  therefore,  very  naturally,  attends  to  those 
duties  which  are  indispensable ;  and  as  for  the 
Timber,  &c.  &c.  he  only  thinks  about  it  seriously, 
when  he  wishes  to  ascertain  how  much  of  it  he 
can  turn  to  profit. 

Every  considerable  estate  ought  to  have  a  per- 
son upon  it,  whose  attention  shall  exclusively  be 
Q 


118  HEDGE-ROW    TIMBER. 

devoted  to  the  supervision  of  the  Woods,  Plant- 
ations and  Hedge  Rows,  &c.  He  should  be  a 
well-educated  and  an  intelligent  man ;  and  should 
be  so  well-paid  for  his  services,  as  to  feel  that  his 
employer  has  a  moral  claim  upon  him,  for  the  en- 
tire devotion  of  his  mind,  as  well  as  his  physical 
powers,  to  the  efficient  discharge  of  his  duties. 

An  inquiry  into  the  natural  history  of  Hedge- 
row Timber,  if  I  may  so  speak  of  it,  would  furnish 
a  field  for  highly  interesting  remark,  and  it  would 
assuredly  remove  any  doubts  that  might  remain  in 
the  minds  of  those  who  have  gone  no  farther  than 
to  suspect  that  the  management  of  it  has  been  bad. 
When  it  is  considered  that  the  Timber  of  our 
Hedges  is  the  product  of  chance,  or  even  worse 
than  that,  that  it  has  grown  to  what  it  is,  notwith- 
standing that  it  has  been  subjected  to  the  most 
barbarous  treatment ;  it  is  impossible  not  to  per- 
ceive, that  if  it  had  been  watched  and  tended  as  it 
ought  to  have  been,  it  would  have  equalled  any 
thing  that  could  have  been  conceived  of  it. 

The  classes  of  trees  which  may  be  met  with  in 
our  Hedge-rows  are  various,  and  are  so  situated  in 
many  places,  as  to  really  give  rise  to  the  idea  just 


HEDGE-ROW   TIMBER.  119 

now  referred  to — that  they  are  found  there,  more 
as  a  matter  of  chance,  than  of  design:  and  this 
may  he  assigned,  partly  at  least,  as  the  reason 
why  they  have  heen  so  neglected,  or  so  shamefully 
used.  If  they  had  heen  planted,  and  if  any  cal- 
culation at  all  were  made  before  planting,  it  might 
be  imagined  that  a  gentleman  would  wish  to  ascer- 
tain what  would  he  the  surest  mode  of  raising  a 
class  of  fine  unblemished  trees,  whether  they  were 
Oaks,  or  Elms,  or  Ash,  or  any  other  kind ;  and 
having  carefully,  and  at  some  expence,  introduced 
them  into  his  hedges,  it  is  difficult  to  suppose,  that 
he  would  either  leave  them  to  shift  for  themselves, 
or  to  the  tender  mercies  of  their  natural  enemies, 
the  occupiers  of  the  land  on  which  they  might  be 
growing :  it  is  therefore  more  than  probable,  that  a 
considerable  proportion  of  them  are  in  the  hedges 
more  by  accident  than  any  thing  else.  But  how- 
ever that  may  be,  the  fact  remains  the  same :  they 
are,  very  generally,  standing  memorials  of  the 
ignorance  of  the  men  in  whose  care  they  have 
been  placed,  and  a  triumphant  vindication  of  the 
propriety  of  my  title. 


120  HEDGE-ROW   TIMBER. 

If  Hedge-row  Trees  have  length  of  bole,  they 
have  it — not  because  they  were  properly  trained 
and  assisted  when  they  were  young,  and  therefore 
needed  it,  but — in  consequence,  most  likely,  of 
indiscriminate  lopping  and  pruning  at  some  former 
period  of  their  growth,  the  fruits  of  which,  although 
now  invisible  to  the  unpracticed  eye,  will  appear 
hereafter,  to  the  dismay,  and  serious  loss,  of  the 
person  who  may  have  to  saw  them  up. 

I  have  elsewhere  given  my  opinion  very  freely 
on  the  subject  of  pruning,  but  as  it  will  be  neces- 
sary just  to  glance  at  it,  in  connection  with  Hedge- 
row Timber,  I  will  again  take  the  Oak,  which  is 
almost  the  only  tree  that  1  would  recommend  for 
hedges.  As  this  noble  tree  will  naturally  grow 
of  a  bush-like  shape,  when  standing  alone,  it  is 
absolutely  necessary  that  it  be  pruned,  or  it  will 
not  acquire  sufficient  length  of  stem.  I  am  not, 
therefore,  the  wholesale  condemner  of  pruning, 
even  of  Hedge-row  Trees,  but  I  would  have  no 
pruning  done  after  they  had  arrived  at  a  certain 
age — say,  twenty  years  :  all  work  of  this  kind 
should  be  done  during  the  infancy  of  the  tree,  or 


HEDGE-ROW    TIMBER.  121 

not  at  all.  I  would  much  sooner  cut  down  a  free, 
if  it  had  not  sufficient  length  of  bole,  and  trust 
to  the  chance  of  raising  a  better  from  its  stool, 
than  take  off  large  branches,  particularly  if  it 
was  not  over  thirty  years  of  age.  Indeed  the 
former  method  of  repairing  the  mischief  of  long 
neglect,  appears  to  me  as  one  peculiarly  adapted 
to  the  circumstances  in  which  some  estates  are 
placed,  as  to  the  timber ;  and  I  should  not  hesitate 
to  adopt  it  upon  an  extensive  scale.  I  have,  in 
fact,  seen  many  estates  where  I  should  cut  down 
Oaks  very  freely,  which  have  not  length  of  bole,  or 
which,  from  some  cause  or  other,  are  not  healthy ; 
even  though  they  might  not  produce  timber  enough 
to  pay  for  the  cost  of  cutting.  There  are  estates 
within  less  than  two  hours  ride  of  my  residence, 
which  are  apparently  well  stocked  with  timber, 
but  it  is  of  such  quality  that,  were  it  under  my 
own  management,  I  should  instantly  cut  it  down ; 
and  from  a  large  proportion  of  the  stools  I  should 
train  up  a  new  race  of  trees.  These  would,  if  well 
attended  to,  grow  into  a  class  and  quality  of  tim- 
ber, very  little,  if  at  all,  inferior  to  maiden  trees  ; 


122  HEDGE-ROW   TIMBER. 

while,  on  the  other  hand,  from  those  which  are 
standing,  whatever  length  of  time  they  may 
remain,  nothing  can  be  expected,  hut  a  small 
quantity  of  timber,  and  that  of  middling  quality. 
But  to  return  to  pruning.  In  a  Wood,  or  a  Plan- 
tation, trees  will  draw  up  each  other  to  a  certain 
length,  and  many  of  the  lateral  branches,  from  the 
exclusion  of  light  and  air,  will  die,  and  some  of 
them  will  fall  off ;  this  is,  of  course,  natural  prun- 
ing :  but  in  a  Hedge-row,  they  have  no  such  help, 
they  wDl,  therefore,  require  artificial  pruning ; 
which  should  commence  at  the  time  of  planting, 
and  continue  until  it  can  be  seen  that  they  will 
assuredly  acquire  ample  length  of  bole.  The  kind 
of  pruning  which  is  here  advocated  cannot  possibly 
do  any  harm,  if  it  be  well  done,  and  done  at  a 
proper  season.  The  soundness  of  an  Oak  will  in 
no  degree  he  impaired  by  it ;  and  consequently,  it 
will  be,  on  all  accounts,  more  serviceable  for  naval 
purposes,  than  if  it  were  not  pruned ;  for  it  will 
not  surely  be  contended,  that  clearness  of  grain, 
and  length  of  stem,  are  not  likely  to  recommed  it  to 
the  ship-builder.  So  far  from  having  a  doubt  upon 


HEDGE-ROW   TIMBER.  123 

this  point,  I  am  of  opinion  that  timber  thus  carefully 
trained,  will  be,  on  every  account,  incomparably 
superior  to  that  which  is  at  present  obtained  from 
our  Hedge-rows ; — it  will  exhibit  a  healthy  deve- 
lopement,  from  the  pith  to  the  alburnum ;  so  that 
wherever  there  is  a  bend,  a  crook,  or  a  knee,  in  it, 
the  purchaser  will  be  sure  that  it  is  sound — where- 
as the  very  opposite  is  the  case  with  by  far  the 
greater  part  of  that  which  now  comes  into  the 
market.  The  reckless  extent  to  which  the  abo- 
minable practice  of  pruning,  lopping,  or  snaring — 
whichever  it  may  be  called — is  carried,  renders 
the  conversion  of  timber  a  very  hazardous  specu- 
lation, and  should  long  since  have  taught  the 
growers  of  it,  to  avoid  the  commission  of  such  an 
error  themselves,  and  to  impose  a  heavy  penalty 
on  all  those  belonging  to  them,  who  should  be 
found  guilty  of  it. 

To  illustrate  a  little  further  the  statement  here 
made,  and  the  opinion  here  given,  it  may  be  re- 
marked, that  the  effect  of  such  a  vile  mutilation 
of  Hedge-row  Timber  as  is,  in  almost  every  quar- 
ter, permitted,  is  seen  and  felt  most  in  those  very 


124  HEDGE-ROW   TIMBER. 

parts  where  strength  is  most  wanted,  and  which, 
if  sound,  would  render  the  timber  so  much  the 
more  valuable.  It  is  on  the  outsides  of  bends  or 
kneeS)  that  blemishes  are  so  frequently  found,  and 
which  are  often  so  considerable,  as  to  reduce  the 
value  of  a  valuable  crook  to  almost  nothing. 

These  defects  in  timber  are  sometimes  so  far 
within  the  body  of  the  tree,  as  to  elude  the  scrutiny 
of  the  keenest  eye,  proving,  in  some  very  old  trees, 
that  pruning  is  not  an  evil  of  modem  date.  In  a 
still  greater  proportion,  as  to  the  whole  quantity, 
however,  the  eye  of  Ship-builders,  or  Timber 
Merchants — all  of  whom  have  frequently  been 
bitten — will  detect,  from  external  appearances,  the 
snag-pruning^  covered  over  both  with  wood  and 
bark;  and  consequently,  they  protect  themselves 
as  well  as  they  can  in  their  purchases,  against  the 
contingency  of  unsound  timber,  by  shaping  their 
offers  accordingly.  This,  of  course,  affects  the 
seller  in  no  inconsiderable  degree,  and  is  one  other 
reason  why  he  should  put  a  stop  to  the  practice  of 
pruning  altogether,  except  when  it  could  be  done 
under  the  eye  of  his  own  Wood  Manager. 


HEDGE-ROW   TIMBER.  125 

The  last    point    connected  with   Hedge-row 
Trees  which  I  shall  mention,  is  the  planting  of 
them ;  but  upon  this  part  of  the  subject,  I  shall  not 
say  much.     I  might,  indeed,  have  passed  it  over 
in  silence,  and  still  have  fulfilled  the  requirements 
of  my  Title-page ;  but  inasmuch  as  the  planting 
of  Hedge-row  Timber,   must  form  a  part  of  an 
improved  system  of  management,  however  it  may 
be  left  out  of  the  present  practice,  it  does  not  seem 
quite  right  to  overlook  it  altogether. 

If  Hedge-row  Trees  are  to  succeed  at  all,  they 
must  have  a  good  start;  and  if  they  are  to  have 
a  good  start,  there  must,  of  necessity,  be  some 
trouble  bestowed  in  the  preparation  of  the  site  on 
which  they  are  to  be  planted.  In  the  fences  of 
new  inclosures  there  will  be  no  difficulty  at  all. 
If  the  border,  as  it  is  often  called,  be  well  prepared 
for  the  quick,  it  will  be  in  a  right  state  for  an  Oak 
Tree ;  and  it  would  really  appear  to  be  a  piece 
of  unaccountable  neglect — an  inexplainable  cir- 
cumstance, as  the  act  of  a  man  of  business — if  a 
tract  of  land  were  to  be  enclosed,  and  new  fences 
put  down,  without  the  opportunity  being  seized  to 

plant  a  suitable  number  of  Oak  Trees.     I  say,  of 
R 


126  HEDGE-ROW   TIMBER. 

Oak  Trees,  because  I  am  persuaded  that  it  would 
be  very  difficult  indeed  to  find  a  locality  where 
any  other  kind  of  timber,  other  circumstances 
being  equal,  would  be  likely  to  pay  so  well.  In 
the  line  of  every  Quick  fence,  then,  I  should  cer- 
tainly recommend  that  healthy  Oak  Plants,  of 
four  years  old,  which  have  been  at  least  twice 
transplanted  in  the  nursery,  should  be  inserted,  at 
a  distance  from  each  other — say,  of  twenty  yards — 
and  if  they  are  properly  guarded  and  nursed, 
nothing  is  more  certain,  than  that  they  will  become 
a  fine  race  of  trees.  But  planting  young  Oaks,  or 
young  trees  of  any  kind,  in  an  old  Hedge-row,  is 
quite  a  different  affair.  It  is  indeed  an  under- 
taking involving  real  difficulty,  and  requiring  a 
very  considerable  degree  of  skill  on  the  part  of  the 
workman,  and  of  firmness  and  determination  on 
the  part  of  his  employer. 

It  would  be  found  all  but  impossible  to  rear  a 
young  Oak  in  the  exact  line  of  an  old  and  vigorous 
thorn  hedge  ;  but  there  are  many  situations  which 
present  much  less  difficulty.  For  example :  In 
the  year  when  a  hedge  is  plashed  or  laid,  where 
there  is  a  moderate  space  on  the  bank  which  nas 


HEDGE-ROW   TIMBER.  127 

been  raised  when  the  quick  was  first  planted — say, 
of  a  foot  or  more — there  will  be  room  for  a  tree  ; 
and  in  all  cases,  where  the  bank  has  not  been 
pared  down,  there  will  be  more  room  than  is  here 
supposed.  Many  other  places,  such  as  the  sides 
of  the  banks  of  large  ditches,  the  gaps  of  hedges, 
&c.  &c.  may  be  met  with,  on  almost  every  estate, 
which  ought  to  be  filled  with  Oaks,  after  the 
ground  has  been  prepared  in  a  suitable  manner. 

But,  a  previous  preparation  of  the  plant  is 
necessary,     Planting  in  Hedge-rows,  where  plant- 
ing has  been  done   at  all,  has  been  perftrmed  in 
the  same  ill-adapted  way  as  every  thing  else  rela- 
ting to  timber.     The  plants  have  been  taken  out 
of  the  nursery,  indiscriminately  with  others,  which 
have   been  intended    for   close   planting ;   instead 
of  having   such,    and   such   only,    as  have   been 
twice  or  thrice  shifted,  and  each  time  into  a  more 
exposed  situation,  and  wider  apart,  in  order  that 
they  might  acquire  more  fibrous  roots,   and  indu- 
ration of  bark,  and  thus  be  enabled  to  cope  with, 
and   surmount,    the   disadvantages   of  their   new 
position.      Another  point,  which  has   previously 
been  hinted  at,  is  the  guarding  of  the  trees.     Xo 


128  HEDGE-ROW   TIMBER. 

matter  what  the  expense  may  be,  if  a  gentleman 
determines  to  have  Hedge-row  Timber,  he  must 
guard  it  well.  It  stands  more  in  need  of  the 
watchful  eye  of  the  Wood  Manager  than  almost 
any  thing  else :  in  fact,  it  is  of  little  or  no  use 
planting  at  all,  if  a  good  and  sufficient  guard  fence 
be  not  immediately  put  down :  but,  having  put  in 
good  plants,  and  effectually  protected  them,  I  say 
again,  I  know  of  no  reason  why  Hedge-row  Tim- 
ber should  not  thrive  and  prosper,  and,  ultimately, 
turn  out  as  sound,  as  any  other.  That  it  is  not 
so  with**  the  race  of  Timber  Trees  now  growing, 
except  to  a  very  limited  extent,  I  assert  without 
fear  of  contradiction;  and,  with  the  same  confi- 
dence, I  plead  this  fact  as  my  justification,  when 
I  re-assert,  that  their  treatment,  from  first  to  last, 
is  neither  more  nor  less,  than  a  course  of  gross 
"  MISMANAGEMENT." 


THE      END. 


Printed  by  J.  PERFECT,  Cartergate,  Newark. 


o   f\  ~ 


RETURN    FORESTRY  LIBRARY 

*    260  Mulford  Hall 


642-2936 


^ViPaSJ  2               3 
SEME.    1 

456 

ALL  BOOKS  AAAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 
BERKELEY,  CA  94720 


®$ 


C  0  3  5  b  M  t,  5  L  7 


